from  t^e  feifirari?  of 

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t^e  feifirari^  of 

(Princeton  C^eofogicaf  ^eminarg 

'    BV  4010  .M75 

Murray,  Nicholas,  1802-186 
Preachers  and  preaching 


PREACHEES  AND  PEEACHING. 


BY 

y 

REV.  NICHOLAS  MURRAY,  D.D., 

AUTHOR  OF   "KIBWAN'S  LETTERS  TO   BISHOP  HUGHES,"  "ROMANISM  AT  HOME, 
"men   and  things   in   EUROPE,"    "PARISH  AND  OTHEB  PENOXLINGS," 
"THE   U.VPPY  HOME,"  ETC. 


NEW    YORK: 

HARPER  «fe  BR  OTHERS,  PUBLISHER 

FRANKLIN    SQTJARK. 

I860. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  fifty-nine,  by 

Harper  &  Brothers, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Southern  District 
of  New  York. 


TO   THE 


REV.  GARDINER  SPRING,  D.D.,  LL.D., 


WHOSE  MANNER  OF  LIFE  FOR  FIFTY  YEARS  IN  THE  MINISTRY 

HAS  FORMED  AN  EXAMPLE  WORTHY  THE  IMITATION 

OF  ALL  HIS  YOUNGER  BRETHREN, 


®l)is  tloltttne  is  Wchitatcli^ 

BY  HIS  SINCERE  FRIEND, 

THE  AUTHOR. 


PREFACE. 


Every  book  lias  a  history ;  so  has  this,  and  it  is 
very  soon  told.  Its  author  was  appointed  by  the 
Board  of  Directors  to  deliver  the  charge  to  the  Eev. 
Dr.  M'Gill  on  his  inauguration  as  professor  in  the 
Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton  in  September, 
1854.  The  theme  of  his  charge  to  that  learned  and 
beloved  professor  was  ' '  The  Ministry  we  need."  With 
its  preparation  commenced  the  train  of  thought,  the 
reflection,  the  observation,  which  have  produced  this 
volume.  In  a  ministry  of  thirty  years'  continuance 
he  has  noticed  the  causes  of  the  success  and  of  the 
failure  of  ministers,  and  the  good  and  bad  conduct  of 
parishes  and  people  toward  them ;  and  the  results  are 
here  stated  for  the  instruction  of  all  concerned. 

The  ministry  in  our  day  and  land  has  a  great  work 
to  do.  Our  country  is  vast  in  territory,  productive  in 
soil,  and  in  population  increasing  beyond  all  example. 
It  is  the  point  toward  which  all  the  streams  of  emi- 
gration rising  in  the  Old  World  are  flowing;  and 
what  else  than  an  earnest  and  truthful  ministry  can 
reduce  to  a  common  language  and  feeling,  and  bind  to 
our  altars,  the  nations,  kindreds,  tongues,  and  people 
that  are  seeking  here  a  home  ? 

And  what  else  than  such  a  ministry  can  prepare 
the  Church  for  the  fight  of  faith,  and  lead  it  forth  to 
the  conquest  of  the  world  ?     The  nations  are  now 


vi  PEEFACE. 

open  to  the  Gospel  as  they  never  were  before,  and 
are  waiting  for  its  light.  True,  paganism  has  lost 
none  of  its  sullen  resistance  to  the  truth ;  and  popery 
is  what  it  was  in  the  days  of  its  Gregorys  and  Johns ; 
and  Islamism  is  what  it  was  in  the  days  of  its  Omars ; 
but  the  spirit  of  might  has  departed  from  them  all, 
and  the  ways  of  access  to  their  swarming  millions  are 
open ;  and  v/e  now,  more  than  ever,  need  an  earnest 
ministry  to  lead  on  the  Church  to  enter  these  ways 
and  to  occupy  the  land. 

And  the  objects  of  this  volume  are,  in  the  spirit  of 
brotherly  love,  to  incite  the  entire  ministry  of  the 
Church  ol  God  to  higher  zeal  and  earnestness  in  its 
great  work ;  to  make  it  more  efficient  at  home  and 
abroad ;  to  raise  it  up  to  the  place  which  God  design- 
ed it  should  hold  in  the  world's  civilization,  and  to 
show  to  the  Church  its  duty  to  the  ministry. 

Most  of  these  chapters  first  appeared  in  the  New 
York  Observer,  a  paper  widely  circulated  among  all 
evangelical  Christians,  and  extensively  nseful.  For 
the  favorable  notice,  as  there  printed,  they  have  re- 
ceived from  the  religious  and  secular  press,  we  desire 
here  to  express  our  gratitude.  Somewhat  altered  and 
enlarged,  they  are  now  collected  and  published  in  the 
present  form.  With  the  desire  that  it  may  be  judged 
in  the  light  of  its  object,  and  with  the  fervent  prayer 
that  it  may  be  blessed  to  the  securing  of  its  designed 
ends,  this  book  is  committed  by  its  author  to  his 
brethren  in  the  ministry,  to  the  Church  of  Christ, 
and  to  the  world. 

Elizabeth,  N.  J.,  November,  1859. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 
Religion  an  individual  Concern. — Men  will  have  some  Religion. — 
God's  Plan. — The  Ministry. — Its  Value  in  Church  and  in  the 
State Page  13 

CHAPTER  II. 

Preaching  the  great  Duty  of  the  Ministry. — The  Commission  is  to 
Preach. — Preaching  at  Pentecost. — The  Example  of  the  Apos- 
tles.— The  Progress  of  Declension. — Return  to  Judaism. — Minis- 
ters not  Priests,  but  Preachers 19 

CHAPTER  III. 

Who  are  true  Ministers  of  the  Gospel? — First,  they  must  be  con- 
verted.— This  the  Mainspring. — Evils  of  an  unconverted  Minis- 
trj'. — Secondly,  there  must  be  Ability  to  teach. — To  preach  and 
teach  require  high  Talent. — The  great  Reformers  united  Piety 
with  high  Talent.  —Paul.  —Luther.  —  Whitefield.  —Wesley.— 
Chalmers 25 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Who  are  true  Ministers  of  Christ  ?  continued. — There  must  be  Au- 
thority to  teach.— The  Manner  of  Christ  and  the  Apostles.— The 
Eorm  of  conferring  Authority. — In  what  Authority  consists. — It 
may  be  variously  conferred.— The  Theory  of  apostolical  Succes- 
sion without  Foundation  in  Scripture  or  true  History. — Objections 
to  it. — The  Kalmuck  Custom 31 

CHAPTER  V. 

An  old  Adage  reversed. — Education  Societies. — Cornelius  and 
Breckenridge. — Multiplication  of  Candidates  for  the  Ministry. — 
Some  Memories  of  Candidates. — Incompetent  Ministers  very 
useless  Men. — The  Need  of  strict  Care  as  to  Candidates 39 


VUl  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Is  the  Ministry  sufficiently  isolated  from  the  World? — Popeiy  an 
Institution  of  the  World. — English  Bishops  Legislators. — Turn- 
ing aside  from  the  Work  of  the  Ministry. — Specimens  and  Illus- 
trations  Page  45 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Is  the  Ministry  sufficiently  isolated  from  the  World?  continued. — 
Other  Illustrations. — Notoriety  sought  by  Queerness,  by  isms,  and 
Hobbies. — The  Scotchman. — The  Eights  of  Ministers,  and  the 
Limits  of  their  Rights 52 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Old  Ministers. — Why  Exceptions  to  other  old  Men?— J.  Q.  Adams. 
— Secretary  Marcy. — Chancellor  Kent. — Some  Ministers  popular 
down  to  old  Age. — Why  are  not  all  ? — The  Nature  of  the  Ministry. 
— Drafts  made  on  their  Feelings. — The  sudden  Transitions  from 
Scenes  of  Joy  to  those  of  Mourning 58 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Old  Ministers,  continued. — Want  of  good  Habits  of  Study. — Tempt- 
ations to  neglect  it. — Bad  Habits  of  Study. — Personal  Habits. — 
Examples. — Long  Sermons 63 

CHAPTER  X. 

Causes  impeding  ministerial  Usefulness. — Apostolic  Success. — Why 
the  slow  Progress  of  the  Gospel  ? — The  Way  of  educating  the 
Ministry. — Not  educated  to  be  Preachers. — A  lifeless  Ministry. — 
Tendencies  of  a  permanent  Ministry, — Two  Parishes  contrast- 
ed.— A  living  Ministry  the  great  Need  of  the  Church 71 

CHAPTER  XL 

Jealousies  in  the  Ministry  impede  its  Influence. — Worse  than  the 
Oppositions  of  Romanism  and  Infidelity. — Bad  Temper  of  Minis- 
ters.— Examples 78 

CHAPTER  XIL 

Prudence. — Not  fostered  by  our  Plans  of  Study. — The  Lack  of  it,  how 
shoAvn. — Examples  showing  the  Effects  of  Prudence  and  of  the 
Want  of  it — Prudence  not  a  shining  but  a  very  useful  Grace.,   ?5 


CONTENTS.  ix 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Sectarianism. — Ground  for  Diversity  of  Opinion. — Has  its  Limits. — 

Its  great  Evils  when  excessive. — Examples. — Ministers  of  a  Sect 

not  Ministers  of  Christ. — There  should  be  no  Ministers  of  narrow 

Views Page  91 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Preaching  an  Institution  of  Religion. — What  it  has  done. — Preach- 
ing the  great  Duty  of  the  Ministry. — Not  to  be  put  aside  by  Pray- 
ing.— Itinerant  Preaching. — Matter  and  Manner  of  Preaching. — 
Methods  of  Exposition. — Erskine. — Barrow. — Blair. — Examples. 
Davies. — Quaint  Subjects. — Dr.  Baker. — Summerfield 98 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Manner  in  the  Pulpit. — Tlie  Character  of  the  Preacher. — His  S}Tn- 
pathy  with  his  Subject. — The  Eloquence  of  Art  and  of  the  Heart. 
— An  Example. — Mr.  Willard. — Eloquence  of  Manner. — Dr.  lla- 
son. — Dr.  GrifBn. — Preaching  in  Avignon,  at  Rome. — Earnestness 
a  high  Talent. — Should  be  cultivated 104 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  Irish  General  Assembly. — An  Address  there. — Dr.  Chalmers' 
great  Address. — Whitefield. — Wesley. — Their  Power. — The  Age 
in  which  they  rose. — Their  Influence. — They  were  in  earnest..  Ill 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Dr.  Duff  as  a  Preacher. — At  Exeter  Hall. — Always  earnest. — Earn- 
estness a  great  Power. — Should  be  cultivated. — An  Example. — 
The  want  of  Earnestness  destructive  to  Congregations. — A  Re- 
vival of  earnest  Men  needed 117 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Extempore  Preaching. — What  it  is. — Various  Ways  of  preparing 
Sermons. — Preaching  without  Reading. — Advantages  of  Writing. 
— Let  Men  preach  in  the  Way  best  for  them. — Examples. — Dr. 
M'Neil. — Dr.  Candlish. — Dr.  Alexander. — Advice  to  a  young 
Minister 123 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Our  Destitution.— Increasing.— Our  Modes  of  educating  our  Minis- 
try.— Waiting  a  Call. — How  the  State  reaches  all. — The  Papal 
System. — Every  Minister  should  have  a  Place. — The  lay  Talent 
should  be  employed Page  131 

CHAPTER  XX. 
Revivals. — Have  always  blessed  the  Church. — Best  promoted  by  Pas- 
tors. —  Revival  Preachers.  —  Their  Character  and  Influence.  — 
Preaching  the  Truth.— Proper  Training  of  Children 139 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
Change  as  to  the  Permanency  of  the  pastoral  Relation. — Long  Pas- 
torates.—The  Williams  Family.— Many  ex-Pastors.— Causes.— 
The  Example  of  the  Methodist  Church. — Reformatory  Measures. 
—Deacon  Smith.— The  Ministry  itself.— Examples.— The  fewer 
Changes  the  better  for  Ministers  and  Churches 147 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Prayer,  its  Importance. — Prayer  in  the  Synagogue:  in  the  early 
Church. — How  Prayers  became  long  and  formal. — No  Forms  of 
Prayer  in  the  early  Church. — Liturgies,  their  Rise. — The  Book  of 
Common  Prayer. — Forms  of  Prayer  not  wrong. — Long  Prayers. 
— Object  of  Prayer. — Manner  of  Prayer. — Dr.  Green. — Dr.  Mille- 
doler.— The  Gift  of  Prayer 155 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
The  Church  a  " Flock."— Children  the  "Lambs."— Church  visible 
and  spiritual. — The  Covenant  includes  Children. — General  Care 
for  Children. — Catiline. — Voltaire. — The  Reformers. — Knox. — 
What  the  Pastor  should  do. — Baxter. — Doddridge. — Richmond. 
— Chalmers. — Dr.  Green. — The  successful  Minister 163 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Who  shall  educate  the  Children? — Duty  of  the  Church. — Sabbath- 
schools.  —  Shorter  Catechism.  —  Catechetical  Instruction.  —  Its 
good  Effects. — The  Men  of  the  Church. — Early  Admission  to  the 
Lord's  Supper. — Want  of  Faith. — The  Jewish  Custom. — Early 
Christian  Custom.  —  The  right  Rule.  —  Nonconformists.  — Com- 


CONTENTS.  xi 

munion  in  Scotland. — Instances  of  early  Piety. — Cases  of  youth- 
ful Conversions,  and  of  their  joyful  Death-beds Page  170 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
Object  of  the  Ministry. — The  Preacher  and  Pastor  combined. — 
Emblems. — Shepherd,  Parent. — Pastoral  Visitation. — How  per- 
formed.— The  Manner  of  it. — A  model  Pastor. — Visitation  going 
out  of  Fashion. — Baxter. — Matthew  Henry. — Dr.  Miller. — Ex- 
cuses.— A  Portrait 178 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Singing. — A  Source  of  Controversies. — Of  divine  Appointment. — 
Singing  among  the  Jews  and  early  Christians. — Corrupted  in 
Papal  and  Protestant  Churches. — Choristers  and  Organists. — 
The  Mistake. — Artistic  Singing. — Organs.— The  Psalms  to  be 
sung. — Congregational  Singing. — Sitting. — All  should  sing..  187 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

The  comprehensive  Command. — The  Position  of  the  Minister. — His 
Advantages  for  doing  Good. — Dickenson. — Chalmers. — The  Con- 
trast.— Dr.  Duncan. — The  indirect  Good  of  the  Ministry. — Un- 
worthy Conduct.  —  Illustrations.  —  The  Kind  of  Ministers  we 
need 196 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Ministers'  Duties  various.  —  Helps  in  the  Jewish  and  Christian 
Church. — To  be  used. — Chalmer's  Experience. — Parents. — Sun- 
day-schools a  noble  Field. — Districting  Parishes. — The  Eldership. 
— Deacons. — Plans  and  Agencies. — Examples 205 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 
Christian  Union. — Yet  an  open  Question. — Too  many  Church  Or- 
ganizations.— Those  of  the  same  Doctrine  and  Order  should  be 
united. — Evils  of  separate  Organizations  magnified. — By  whom. — 
Platform  Liberality. — Ground  for  Variety  of  Opinions. — External 
Unity  Utopian. — Unity  in  Christ. — Unity  with  Diversity. — The 
Unity  attainable. — A  Day-dream 214: 

CHAPTER  XXX. 
The  taithful  Mikistee 222 


xii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 
Address  to  the  youthful  Ministry  or  the  Church. .Page  229 

CHAPTER  XXXH. 
Address  to  the  youthful  Ministry  of  the  Church — Contin- 
ued   2^^ 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 
Parishes  and  People. — "Wrong  Views  of  the  Ministry 246 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 
Duties  of  the  Churches  to  the  Ministry. — Duty  of  the  Church 
to  sustain  the  Ministry 254 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 
Duty  of  Churches  to  the  Ministry — Continued. — Salary  to  be 
paid. — Prayer  for  them 2G2 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 
Duty  of  Churches  to  the  Ministry — Continued. — Shoukl  protect 
its  Reputation 270 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 
Duty  of  Churches  to  the  Ministry — Continued. — On  hearing  the 
Gospel 278 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 
Duty  of  Churches  to  the  Ministry — Continued. — The  Time  of  a 
Pastor  should  not  be  wasted 287 

CHAPTER  XXXIX. 
The  Elements  of  A  prosperous  Church 295 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Eeligion  an  individual  Concern.— Men  will  have  some  Eeligion.— 
God's  Plan.— The  Ministry.— Its  Value  in  Church  and  in  the 
State. 

Religion  an  individual  concern. 

All  men  are  sinners,  and,  as  such,  are  separated 
from  God  and  lieaven.  And  the  great  object  of  re- 
ligion is  to  restore  man  to  that  favor  of  Grod  which  he 
lost  by  violating  his  law  and  casting  off  his  authority. 
And  this  it  seeks  to  do  by  revealing  to  him  truths  to 
be  believed  and  duties  to  be  performed.  And  he  that 
believes  and  "doeth  the  truth"  is  a  Christian,  and, 
as  far  as  the  future  life  is  concerned,  is  restored  to 
the  state  in  which  Adam  was  before  he  fell.  He  is 
re-bound  to  God  and  to  all  good.  Hence  the  word 
"religion"  (ex  religio)  is  comprehensive  of  the  duties 
of  all  men.  Others  can  not  believe  for  us,  nor  do  for 
us,  any  more  than  they  can  go  to  heaven  or  hell  for 
us.  Other  things  we  may  do  by  proxy ;  with  every 
man  religion  is  an  individual  concern,  and  he  who 
puts  it  into  the  hands  of  priest,  pastor,  or  preacher, 
to  be  manas^ed  for  him,  for  the  want  of  time  or 
inclination  to  attend  to  it  himself,  is  simply  cheating 
his  own  soul.  The  concerns  of  religion  form  the  great 
concern  of  every  man. 


14  PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

An  order  of  ministers  necessary. 

While  all  this  is  very  solemnly  so,  yet  has  it 
pleased  God  to  institute  an  order  of  men  to  minister 
in  holy  things ;  not  to  be  religions  for  others,  but  to 
explain  to  all  men  the  way  in  which  they  may  be  re- 
ligious toward  him.  These  existed  under  the  old 
dispensation ;  they  are  connected  with  every  form  of 
the  religion  of  God  or  the  superstitions  of  men ;  and 
they  form  the  most  imj)ortant  external  element  in  the 
religion  of  Jesus  Christ.  Man  will  have  a  religion  of 
some  kind.  This  is  a  want  of  his  nature  that  he  will 
have,  in  some  way,  supplied,  if  not  by  a  true  minister 
of  Christ,  by  a  massing  priest,  a  fakir,  a  soothsayer  or 
"doctor,"  as  among  our  own  Indians.  Travelers,  ex- 
plorers, missionaries,  have  yet  to  find  a  people  with- 
out a  religion  of  some  kind,  or  a  religion  without  a 
class  of  men  devoted  to  its  duties.  Even  the  outlaws 
in  the  days  of  Eobin  Hood  had  their  hedge  priest. 
If  a  deluge  of  atheism  could  sweep  from  the  earth  all 
forms  of  religion,  true  and  false,  then  would  it  estab- 
lish a  religion  and  |)riesthood  of  its  own.  The  con- 
science of  man  would  remain,  amid  the  widespread 
moral  ruin,  and  its  demands  must  not  be  resisted. 
Hence  we  might  infer  that  the  God  who  made  man 
would  also  give  him  a  religion  for  his  guidance,  and 
would  provide  for  teachers  to  explain  its  doctrines, 
administer  its  ordinances,  and  enforce  its  duties ;  and 
that  religion,  with  its  teachers,  we  have  in  the  Bible. 

The  plan  of  God,  in  revealing  his  will  to  man,  is 
in  accordance  with  the  great  law  of  his  providence — 
first  the  blade,  then  the  ear,  then  the  full  corn  in  the 


PKEACHEES  AND  PREACHING.  15 

Law  of  development. 

ear;  first  the  blushing  dawn,  then  the  rising  sun, 
then  its  meridian  effulgence.  In  the  revelation  of 
his  will  it  was,  first,  the  promise  as  to  the  seed  of  the 
woman ;  then  the  typical  economy  of  Moses ;  then 
came  prophets,  who  gradually  unfolded  the  coming 
of  a  brighter  day,  when  the  Lord  would  make  a  ''new 
covenant  with  the  house  of  Israel  and  with  the  house 
of  Judah."  And  then,  at  the  point  of  time  where  the 
lines  of  history  and  prophecy  met  and  blended,  called 
"the  fullness  of  tune,"  "the  Word  was  made  flesh." 
And  in  the  person  of  Christ  we  see  again  the  law  of 
development.  He  was  first  the  babe  of  Bethlehem ; 
soon  we  see  him  confounding  the  doctors  in  the  Tem- 
ple ;  thence  onward,  to  his  baptism  by  John  and  by 
the  Holy  Ghost,  he  grew  in  favor  with  God  and  with 
man.  And,  having  taught  the  Way  of  Life  as  it  was 
never  taught  before,  and  having  given  the  most  con- 
vincing proofs  of  the  divinity  of  his  mission  by  the 
most  astonishing  manifestation  of  miraculous  power, 
having  finished  the  work  which  was  given  him  to 
do,  having  revealed  the"  great  principles  and  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  new  covenant,  He  went  up  to  enter 
upon  the  glory  which  he  had  with  the  Father  before 
the  world  was.  And  before  he  ascended  on  high  he 
gave  a  mmistry  to  the  Church,  some  to  be  prophets, 
some  apostles,  some  evangelists,  some  pastors  and 
teachers,  for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints,  for  the  edify- 
ing of  the  body  of  Christ.  His  own  words  are  these : 
"Go  ye,  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing 
them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and 


16  PREACHERS  AND  PREACHINa. 

The  ministry  divinely  authorized. 

of  the  Holy  Griiost,  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things 
whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you;  and  lo!  I  am 
with  you  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 

The  ministry,  then,  of  the  Church  of  Christ  is  of 
divine  authority,  and  in  the  highest  sense  of  that 
phrase.  True,  the  powers  that  be  are  ordained  of 
God ;  a  parent  at  the  head  of  a  family,  a  magistrate 
at  the  head  of  a  nation,  a  judge  upon  the  bench,  an 
elder  appointed  to  rule  in  the  Church,  these  are  all 
ordained  of  God  for  certain  duties,  but  none  of  them 
are  appointed  to  teach  by  the  authority  and  in  the 
name  of  God,  and  the  duties  of  the  ministry  extend 
over  them  all.  Its  duty  is  to  teach  the  parent  how 
to  govern  his  family,  and  magistrates  and  judges  to 
rule  in  the  fear  of  God,  and  to  judge  righteous  judg- 
ment ;  to  teach  all  in  authority  to  be  a  terror  to  evil- 
doers, and  a  praise  to  them  that  do  well.  As  the 
teachers  of  all  nations,  they  are  the  teachers  of  all 
men.  But,  if  teachers  by  divine  authority,  they  must 
not  forget  that  they  are  confined  to  a  divinely-author- 
ized text-book.  Nor  should  they  so  mix  up  things 
temporal  and  spiritual  as  to  cause  the  temporal  to  in- 
terfere with  the  efficacy  of  the  spiritual. 

The  ministry  is  also  an  element  of  vast  importance 
in  the  state.  If  it  is  ignorant,  so,  generally,  are  the 
people ;  if  formal,  religion  becomes  a  formalism ;  if 
fanatical,  so  are  all  that  it  influences ;  if  truly  in  the 
spirit  of  Christ  teaching  the  words  of  Christ  and  ad- 
ministering the  ordinances  of  his  Church,  then  are 
the  people  living  epistles  for  Christ,  known  and  read 


PEEACHERS  AND  PEE  ACHING.        17 

Like  priest,  like  people. 

of  all  men.  "Like  people,  like  priest,"  is  a  proverb 
as  true  now  as  it  was  in  the  days  of  Hosea.  How 
degrading  the  influence  of  pagan  and  papal  priests 
upon  the  people !  What  tends  more  to  the  formation 
of  national  character  than  the  teaching  of  the  ministry 
of  a  nation?  "Who  can  spend  a  Sabbath  in  Eome,  in 
Paris,  in  London,  in  Edinburgh,  in  Boston,  without 
seeing  the  character  of  the  ministry  reflected  in  the 
conduct  of  the  people?  As  it  holds  up  the  law  of 
heaven,  and  teaches  men  their  duty  to  obey  it,  and 
enforces  that  duty  by  divine  sanctions,  the  peoj)le  live 
in  one  way ;  as  it  fails  to  do  this,  and,  with  the  "Word 
of  God  on  its  lips,  lives  in  the  open  violation  of  his 
law,  they  live  in  another  way.  And  not  only  so,  but 
a  noble  evangelical  ministry,  which  teaches  the  people 
to  fear  God  and  keep  his  commandments,  and  then  to 
fear  nothing  else,  is  a  vast  element  of  national  great- 
ness. "The  people  that  know  their  God  are  strong 
and  do  exploits."  Nor  have  we  a  doubt  but  that 
Britain  and  America,  more  than  to  any  other  cause, 
owe  their  present  position  among  the  nations  of  the 
earth  to  the  ministry  which  has  taught  their  people 
that  "the  chief  end  of  man  is  to  glorify  God  and  to 
enjoy  him  forever."  The  ministers  of  the  Gospel 
were  the  men  who  resisted  the  cruel  laws  of  bloody 
Mary,  the  hypocritical  and  treacherous  canting  of  the 
Stuarts,  the  bloody  troopers  who,  under  Claverhouse, 
would  force  upon  Scotland  a  faith  which  its  con- 
science rejected ;  and  in  America  they  were  the  men 
who  nerved  the  arm  and  the  heart  of  our  fathers  to 


18        PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

The  salt  of  the  earth. 

the  resistance  and  sacrifices  wliicli  secured  our  inde- 
pendence. And  they  are  the  men  who  are  now  scat- 
tering the  preserving  salt  over  these  great  Protestant 
nations,  and  who  are  teaching  them  that  the  people 
who  honor  God  he  will  honor,  and  that  them  who 
despise  him  he  will  lightly  esteem.  These  nations 
owe  far  more  to  the  ministers  of  the  Church  than  to 
the  ministers  of  the  state. 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  19 


Preachers,  not  priests. 


CHAPTER  11. 

Preaching  the  great  Duty  of  the  Ministry. — The  Commission  is  to 
Preach. — Preaching  at  Pentecost. — The  Example  of  the  Apos- 
tles.— The  Progress  of  Declension. — Return  to  Judaism. — Minis- 
ters not  Priests,  but  Preachers. 

The  great  duty  of  the  Christian  ministry  is  to 
preach  the  Gospel.  And  it  is  made  so  by  the  terms 
of  the  commission  itself:  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world, 
BJid  j^reach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature."  The  Gos- 
pel means  glad  tidings  of  Christ,  of  salvation  through 
him ;  and  the  grand  design  of  the  ministry  is  to  make 
known  these  glad  tidings  to  all  men.  Gospel  minis- 
ters are  not  j^riests^  but  j^reacJiers  ;  are  not  mass-mon- 
gers nor  repeaters  of  rituals,  but  teachers  of  the  people. 
Their  one  object  is  to  go  into  all  the  world,  and  to 
tell  the  simple  story  of  the  Cross  to  every  creature ; 
and  to  seek  to  persuade  men,  in  Christ's  stead,  to  be- 
come reconciled  to  God,  and  in  the  way  and  manner 
prescribed  in  the  Gospel.  And  just  in  the  proportion 
that  ministers  pass  down  from  preachers  to  priests — 
that  the  pulpit  is  made  to  give  way  to  the  altar — that 
the  sermon  is  supplanted  by  the  ceremony,  does  Chris- 
tianity recede  toward  Judaism ;  does  the  embassador 
for  Christ  dwindle  down  into  a  servile  priest  of  the 
Mosaic  economy. 

On  the  ascension  of  the  Savior  the  apostles  and 


20  PREACHERS  AKD  PREACHING. 

Power  from  on  high. 

disciples  returned  to  Jerusalem,  and  there,  in  obedi- 
ence to  command  waited  until  thej  were  "  endued 
with  power  from  on  high."  Going  into  an  upper 
room,  they  waited,  with  prayer  and  supplication,  for 
the  promised  baptism.  They  were  instructed.  They 
were  commissioned.  But  they  felt  that  without  the 
baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  however  instructed  and 
commissioned,  they  would  be  unqualified  for  their 
high  duties.  Their  quiet,  prayerful  waiting  for  the 
descent  of  "the  power  from  on  high"  is  the  most 
convincing  testimony  they  could  give  that  orders,  in- 
struction, commissions,  of  themselves,  are  insufficient 
to  make  true  preachers  of  the  Gospel.  And  when 
baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire,  they  de- 
scended from  the  place  of  prayer,  and  went  out  amid 
the  multitudes  thronging  the  Holy  City,  and  preach- 
ed to  them  Jesus  and  the  resurrection.  The  ■preacli- 
ing  of  the  Gospel  was  the  great  institution  inaugurated 
at  the  feast  of  Pentecost.  The  altar,  the  sacrifice,  the 
incense,  the  sprinkling  priest,  the  formal  ceremonial, 
however  gorgeous,  belong  to  the  ages  preceding  the 
advent,  and  to  a  dispensation  that  has  vanished  away. 
Christianity  is  a  system  of  great  principles  in  refer- 
ence to  the  fallen  state  of  man,  and  the  righteous  gov- 
ernment of  God,  and  to  the  way  in  which  God  and 
man  may  be  reconciled.  Its  great  central  truths  are, 
Christ  dying  for  our  sins,  and  rising  for  our  justifi- 
cation, and  ever  living  to  make  intercession  for  us. 
And  the  mission  of  the  ministry,  and  of  the  entire 
Church,  is  to  proclaim  these  principles  to  the  ends  of 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  21 

The  only  theme.  Effects. 

the  earth,  and  to  entreat  all  men  to  embrace  them ; 
and  in  the  way  and  manner  of  the  apostles  and  dis- 
ciples in  Jerusalem.  Surely,  if  the  records  of  the 
Church  of  God  have,  in  all  their  pages,  an  example 
for  our  imitation,  it  must  be  that  of  the  Church  of 
Pentecost,  fresh  from  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit. 

And  that  seems  to  have  been  the  example  copied 
by  the  first  ministers  of  our  religion.  Wherever 
driven  by  the  storm  of  persecution,  or  led  by  the 
Spirit  of  God ;  whether  amid  the  rude  Galatians,  the 
voluptuous  Corinthians  and  EjDhesians,  the  refined 
and  philosophic  Athenians,  or  among  the  more  de- 
vout Jews  in  their  synagogues,  they  had  but  one 
theme,  repentance  toward  God,  Christ,  and  the  resur- 
rection. From  these  topics  they  seemed  never  to 
turn.  There  were  no  masses — no  set  forms — no  in- 
cense or  pompous  Jewish  ceremonial.  The  early 
ministers  of  Christ  were  simply  preachers  of  the  Gos- 
pel. And  when  Jews  or  Gentiles  were  converted 
under  their  ministry,  they  seemed  as  zealous  in  tell- 
ing the  story  of  a  Savior's  love  to  their  relations  and 
friends  as  were  the  ministry  in  preaching  it.  ISTone 
were  then  regarded  as  converted  unless  they  were  so 
converted  as  to  become  instruments  in  the  conversion 
of  others.  In  this  way  it  was  that  the  Church,  wad- 
ing through  the  blood,  and  walking  over  the  ashes 
•of  its  martyrs,  in  the  course  of  a  few  generations  ex- 
tended its  influence  to  the  extreme  boundaries  of  the 
Eoman  world,  and  went  up  to  the  throne,  and  put  on 
the  purple  of  the  Csesars. 


22  PREACHEES  AND  PREACHING. 


Tendency  to  backslide. 


But  there  is  a  very  active  tendency  in  man  to  back- 
sli(ie — to  return  to  what  God  has  abolished.     And 
with  the  martyr  age  of  the  Church  passed  away  much 
of  its  spirituality.     As  the  Jews  once  desired  a  king, 
in  imitation  of  the  heathen  nations  around  them,  so 
the  Church  relapsed  into  form  and  ceremony,  in  imi- 
tation, at  once,  of  the  Jews  and  of  the  heathen.     Bap- 
tism, from  being  a  simple  ordinance,  symbolical  of 
our  need  of  cleansing  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  and  by 
which  we  are  admitted  to  a  standing  in  the  visible 
Church,  became  a  regenerating  power.     The  Lord's 
Supper,  instead  of  being  an  ordinance  commemorative 
of  the  death  of  Christ,  became  "the  holy  and  myste- 
rious sacrament  of  the  Eucharist,"  in  which  the  bread 
and  wine  were  changed  into  the  real  body  and  blood 
of  Christ ;  and  the  minister  of  the  Gospel  became 
transmuted  into  a  priest,  clothed  with  the  mysterious 
power  of  thus  creating  God,  and  eating  him  every 
time  he  said  mass,  and  of  making  a  real  sacrifice  of 
Christ  upon  the  altar  for  the  sins  of  men  every  time 
he  galloped  through  the  forms  of  the  Missal.     Even 
in  the  days  of  Chrysostom,  the  fame  of  whose  stormy 
and  all  subduing  eloquence,  like  that  of  Cicero,  has 
come  down  to  our  times,  the  main  duty  of  the  minis- 
try was  made  to  consist  in  the  administration  of  the 
sacraments.     And  soon  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel 
was  supplanted  by  a  return  to  ceremonies  and  sacri- 
fices, in  form,  and  almost  in  substance,  like  unto  those 
of  the  Jewish  Church.     Nor  have  fifteen  hundred 
years  been  able  to  correct  the  great  error  thus  com- 


PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  23 

Illustrations. 

mitted ;  to  remove  from  tlie  Churcli  the  idols  thus 
introduced  into  it,  or  to  restore  the  ministry  to  what 
it  was  when,  after  the  baptism  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  it 
went  out  into  the  streets  of  Jerusalem  from  that  up- 
per room,  and  commenced  preaching  the  Gospel  to 
every  creature. 

"What  mean  those  splendid  cathedrals  of  Eome, 
Paris,  London,  York,  or  those  cabinet  editions  of  them 
in  Montreal,  Baltimore,  and  ISTewYork?  Were  they 
not  suggested  by  the  splendid  edifice  that  once  stood, 
one  of  the  great  wonders  of  the  world,  on  the  summit 
of  Moriah  ?  And  what  mean  those  cathedral  services, 
whether  chanted  by  lazy  priests  at  Eome,  or  said  or 
sung,  by  robed  priests  of  a  State  Church,  at  St.  Paul's, 
or  Westminster  Abbey  ?  Were  they  not  suggested 
by  the  priestly  courses  of  the  Temple  ?  And  what 
are  matins  and  vespers,  Papal  or  Protestant,  but  the 
morning  and  evening  sacrifices  of  Judaism  perpetu- 
ated ?  And  what  is  the  mass,  and  the  real  presence^ 
but  the  sacrifice  of  the  Temple  repeated,  at  which  the 
Shekinah  was  the  symbol  of  the  divine  presence? 
And  our  contentions  about  orders  in  the  ministry, 
and  about  the  millinery  of  the  communion  table  and 
of  the  ministry,  are  all  suggested  by  the  various  or- 
ders of  the  Jewish  priests,  and  by  the  garments  which 
they  wore  in  performing  the  duties  of  their  ofiice ! 
It  is  high  time  we  should  learn  that  we  are  not  un- 
der Moses,  but  under  Christ;  that  ministers  are  not 
priests^  but  preachers  ;  that  they  are  not  sent  so  much 
to  baptize  or  to  administer  the  Lord's  Supper,  as  to 


24  PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Corrupters  of  the  faith. 

preach,  tlie  Gospel  to  every  creature.  The  Church 
lost  its  hold  on  the  world  when  it  ceased  to  preach 
the  Christ ;  it  will  regain  that  hold  on  the  world  when 
it  returns  to  that  great  duty.  The  present  Bishop  of 
London  has  done  more  good  by  his  one  sermon  re- 
cently preached  at  St.  Paul's  than  he  would  have 
done  for  a  score  of  years  by  doling  out  homilies  on 
''baptismal  regeneration"  and  "apostolical  succes- 
sion," which  none  can  prove,  and  which  few  believe, 
and  which  none  can  believe  without  strong  faith  and 
weak  minds. 

The  ministers  of  the  Gospel  are  not  priests^  hut  preach- 
ers. And  the  men,  be  they  Protestant  or  Papal,  who 
make  the  altar  more  prominent  than  the  pulpit — who 
shorten  the  sermon  and  lengthen  the  ceremony — who 
exalt  the  sacrament  and  conceal  the  work  of  the 
Spirit,  are  corrupters  of  the  simple  faith  of  the  Church. 
If  not  apostates,  they  are  in  the  beaten  track  of  apos- 
tasy. The  duty  of  the  ministry  is  not  to  offer  sacri- 
fice, but  to  point  the  way  to  the  great  sacrifice  of 
Calvary. 


PREACHEKS  AND  PREACHING.         25 


True  ministers. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Who  are  true  Ministers  of  the  Gospel? — First,  they  must  be  Con- 
verted.— This  the  Mainspring. — Evils  of  an  unconverted  Minis- 
try.— Secondly,  there  must  be  Ability  to  teach. — To  preach  and 
teach  require  high  Talent. — The  great  Reformers  united  Piety 
with  high  Talent.  —Paul.  —Luther.  —  Whitefield.  —  Wesley .— 
Chalmers. 

Having  shown  that  ministers  of  tlie  Gospel  are 
not  priests,  but  preachers,  the  very  important  inquiry 
arises,  Who  are  true  ministers  of  the  Gospel  ?  This  is 
one  of  the  questions  which  has  been  debated  down 
all  the  ages,  by  which  Satan  has  succeeded  in  dividing 
the  forces  of  the  Church  into  hostile  parties,  and  which 
is  very  simple-  or  very  complex,  according  to  the 
stand-point  from  which  we  discuss  it.  If  we  take  our 
stand  upon  the  Scriptures  alone,  and  in  their  simple 
light  examine  the  question,  we  readily  come  to  one 
conclusion ;  if  we  add  to  the  Scriptures  tradition,  and 
the  jangled  and  jangling  volumes  of  early  Church 
History,  and  the  discordant  teachings  of  the  Fathers, 
and  in  their  cross-lights  examine  the  question,  we  may 
reach  almost  any  conclusion.  But,  instead  of  going 
into  the  general  discussion,  we  will  simply  indicate 
the  elements  which,  when  united,  form  a  true  minis- 
ter of  the  Gospel. 

The  first  and  most  important  of  these  elements  is 
B 


26        PEEACHERS  AND  PEE  ACHING. 

Piety  the  first  essentiaL 

X>iety.  The  ministry  is  a  spiritual  work,  and  it  re- 
quires in  those  who  perform  it  a  spiritual  character. 
They  must  be  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  their  minds ; 
they  must  be  inclined  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  the  work. 
In  this  sense  the  important  remark  of  Newton  may 
be  quoted  as  an  aphorism,  "  None  but  He  who  made 
the  world  can  make  a  minister  of  the  Gospel." 

For  the  lack  of  this,  no  talents,  however  brilliant 
or  attractive,  can  compensate.  It  requires  but  a  min- 
imum degree  of  piety  to  maintain  a  respectable  char- 
acter, and  to  pass  through  the  required  training  for 
the  ministry.  The  day  of  trial  commences  with  its 
active  duties.  And,  unless  decided  piety  is  possessed, 
the  mainspring  of  ministerial  action  will  be  wanting 
or  deranged,  and  painful  defect  will  mark  his  whole 
life.  There  is  difficulty  in  finding  a  field  of  labor ; 
there  is  division  attending  his  first  settlement;  his 
salary  is  inadequate;  his  people  are  lukewarm;  his 
preaching  is  not  successful ;  his  talents  are  depreci- 
ated. Now  comes  the  trial  of  his  faith  and  patience ; 
and,  unless  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  Christ,  he  fails 
to  accomplish  many  of  the  great  ends  for  which  the 
ministry  was  instituted. 

The  lack  of  piety  shows  itself  in  our  day  in  strain- 
ing after  popularity.  One  is  truly  popular  by  the 
force  of  his  talents  and  the  fervor  of  his  piety ;  anoth- 
er, because  he  seeks  it  as  a  main  end.  Between  these 
there  is  a  wide  difference.  One  is  simple  and  solemn, 
the  other  is  magniloquent  and  affected.  The  one  im- 
presses by  his  thoughts,  the  other  by  his  manner  and 


PEEACHERS  AND   PREACHING.  27 

Pulpit  counterfeits.  Evils. 

words.  The  one  attracts  by  the  solemnity  and  pow- 
er with  which  he  presents  and  applies  divine  truth ; 
the  other  by  his  newspaper  notices,  his  quaint  sub- 
jects and  texts,  and  his  odd  illustrations.  The  one 
wins  converts  to  Christ;  the  other  admirers  of  him- 
self. The  one  preaches  boldly  the  doctrines  of  the 
cross ;  the  other  withholds  or  modifies  them,  lest  they 
should  offend,  and  blunts  every  arrow  lest  it  should 
penetrate,  emulous  only  of  the  reputation  of  a  popu- 
lar preacher ! 

How  many  and  sad  are  the  lessons  taught  us  by 
the  history  of  the  Church  as  to  the  great  evils  arising 
from  an  unconverted  ministry !  How  sadly  the  Jew- 
ish Church  suffered  from  false  prophets !  It  was  an 
unconverted  apostle  that  betrayed  the  Lord  of  Glory. 
For  how  many  ages  were  the  boasted  successors  of 
the  apostles  the  vilest  of  men !  And  how,  even  now, 
in  Germany,  the  lowest  infidelity  is  decked  in  the 
robes  of  the  ministry ;  and,  in  England,  the  merest 
worldlings,  because  second  or  subsequent  sons  of  the 
gentry,  are  promoted  to  Church  benefices ;  and  how, 
in  communions  regarded  as  evangelical,  an  unsancti- 
fied  ministry  are  prostituting  the  order  and  ordi- 
nances of  God's  house  to  the  purposes  of  superstition, 
and  to  the  supplanting  of  a  spiritual  by  a  formal  and 
ritual  religion. 

Piety,  then,  is  the  first  great  essential  element  of  a 
true  minister  of  the  Gospel.  "Without  this  a  preacher 
is  but  as  sounding  brass  and  a  tinkling  cymbal.  He 
is  a  minister  only  in  the  technical  sense  of  the  word. 


28  PREACHEKS  AND  PREACHING. 

Ability  to  teach. 

Another  element  of  a  true  ministry  is  ahility  to 
teach.  There  may  be  piety  without  mind  to  grasp 
the  great  truths  of  the  Grospel — without  education  to 
teach ;  and  these  may  be  possessed  without  aptness 
to  teach.  Any  stu|)id  man  may  be  a  priest  who  can 
be  taught,  parrot-like,  to  repeat  the  forms  of  a  ritual. 
Many  of  the  bishops,  and  multitudes  of  the  priests  of 
the  ages  preceding  the  Eeformation,  could  not  write 
their  names.  And,  no  doubt,  many  of  them  now,  in 
those  countries  over  which  the  shadows  of  the  night 
of  the  Dark  Ages  yet  linger,  can  do  but  little  more. 
And  in  the  proportion  that  the  form,  the  unvarying- 
ritual,  obtains  in  public  worship,  is  the  absolute  neces- 
sity for  ability  diminished.  A  man  may  be  dull  and 
uneducated  just  in  the  proportion  he  sinks  the  preach- 
er in  the  priest.  But  to  be  an  efficient  jpreaclier  of  the 
Gospel  requires  a  high  culture  and  aptness  to  teach. 

In  the  magnitude  of  its  objects  the  preaching  of 
the  Gospel  surpasses  every  other  employment  of  man. 
There  is  but  little  intellectual  culture,  civil  liberty,  or 
social  order  but  through  its  influence ;  and  it  is  God's 
appointed  means  for  the  salvation  of  men  and  for  the 
moral  illumination  of  our  world.  To  the  scheme  of 
redemption  all  objects  and  events  are  subservient. 
This  is  the  radiant  point  where  all  the  attributes  and 
works  of  God  converge  into  a  blaze  of  glory ;  and  if, 
as  to  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  Paul,  the  great,  and 
the  gifted,  and  the  inspired,  who  was  caught  up  into 
the  third  heaven,  where  he  heard  those  unutterable 
words  which  it  was  not  lawful  for  man  to  utter,  could 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.        29 

Examples :  Whitefield,  Wesley,  Chalmers. 

say,  Who  is  sufficient  for  these  things  ?  then  a  pious, 
uninspired  man  should  seek  the  highest  qualifications 
for  it.  Every  good  man  has  his  place  and  work  in 
the  Church ;  but  mere  goodness  is  no  qualification  for 
the  pulpit,  without  an  alliance  with  culture  and  apt- 
ness to  teach. 

The  distinguishing  mark  of  a  good  minister  is  this: 
"  He  shall  feed  his  people  with  knowledge  and  under- 
standing." And  how  can  he  impart  them  unless  he 
possesses  them  ?  What  but  sound  can  an  empty  ves- 
sel give  forth?  It  required  the  high  talent  and  the 
refined  education  of  Paul  to  cross  the  Eubicon  of 
Jewish  prejudice — to  refute  the  Pharisee  in  the  Syna- 
gogue— the  sophist  in  the  Areopagus  and  in  the  school 
of  Tyrannus,  and  the  subtle  heathen  in  all  the  coun- 
tries of  the  Grentiles.  It  required  all  the  talent  and 
education  of  Luther  to  breast  the  storm  of  papal 
wrath,  and,  like  the  towering  Alps,  to  bear  unmoved 
the  tempest  and  thunder  that  played  around  him.  It 
required  all  the  ability  of  Whitefield  and  Wesley  to 
wake  up  the  Church  of  England  from  a  state  of  dead 
formalism,  which  lacked  nothing  of  popery  but  the 
name,  and  to  inaugurate  the  great  movement  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  that  has  given  an  impulse  to  the 
Church  of  God  we  hope  it  may  never  lose.  It  re- 
quired all  the  great  powers  of  Chalmers,  drawn  to 
their  highest  tension,  to  rouse  the  Church  of  Scotland 
from  the  influence  of  a  chilling  Moderatism — to  resist 
the  encroachments  of  the  law  upon  the  domains  of 
the  Church ;  and  when  the  law  could  be  no  longer 


so  PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

"  Men  -wanted."  Analogy. 

resisted,  to  lead  out  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  to 
the  high  position  it  now  occupies,  and  at  a  sacrifice 
which  has  scarcely  a  parallel  in  the  whole  history  of 
the  Church  of  God.  Indeed,  wherever  the  Gospel  has 
made  signal  and  permanent  conquest  in  changing  the 
face  of  society — in  moulding  civil  and  moral  institu- 
tions— in  reforming  the  lives  of  the  intelligent  and  in- 
fluential, it  has  been  always  preached  by  men  of  high 
mental  and  moral  endowments,  who  could  feed  the 
people  with  knowledge  and  understanding. 

N'or  in  this  respect  is  it  different  from  other  exist- 
ing institutions  among  men.  The  reformations  in  the 
political  world,  in  the  literary,  in  the  scientific,  in  the 
philosophic,  have  been  all  effected  by  great  minds. 
All  good  men  have  their  place  and  their  work,  but 
the  place  for  weak  men  is  not  in  the  pulpit.  And 
yet 

"Fools  rush  in  where  angels  fear  to  tread," 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 


Laying  on  of  hands. 


CHAPTER  lY. 

Who  are  true  Ministers  of  Christ  ?  continued. — There  must  be  Au- 
thority to  teach. — The  Manner  of  Christ  and  the  Apostles. — The 
Form  of  conferring  Authority. — In  what  Authority  consists. — It 
may  be  variously  conferred. — The  Theory  of  apostolical  Succes- 
sion without  Foundation  in  Scripture  or  true  History, — Objections 
to  it. — The  Kalmuck  Custom. 

We  are  yet  discussing  the  question,  "Who  are  true 
ministers  of  the  Gospel  ?  We  have  discussed  two  of 
the  elements  which  form  such  ministers — pietj,  and 
capacity,  or  ability,  to  teach.  The  only  remaining 
element  is  axdliority  to  teach.  How  is  this  communi- 
cated ?  To  our  mind,  the  answer  to  this  question  is 
a  very  simple  one;  and  so  it  would  appear  to  all 
minds,  if  it  were  left  to  be  determined  by  the  Scrip- 
tures and  common  sense. 

As  Jesus  Christ  appointed  certain  persons  to  per- 
form the  offices  of  rehgion  in  his  Church,  so,  as  we 
learn  from  the  practice  of  the  apostles,  there  was  a 
form  in  setting  them  apart.  That  form  was  by  prayer, 
and  by  the  laying  on  of  hands.  In  this  way  they  or- 
dained ministers  and  deacons.  And  this  simple  form 
remained  for  a  long  time  in  the  Church,  without  any 
superstitious  addition  to  it.  At  first  the  Mying  on 
of  hands  was  connected  with  the  bestowal  of  extra- 
ordinary gifts;  but  when  miracles  ceased,  the  form 


82  PREACHEES  AND  PREACHING. 

Import  of  the  rite. 

was  continued,  and  simjDly  designated  the  person  npon 
wlioni  hands  were  laid,  and  for  whom  prayer  was 
made,  as  set  apart  to  the  office  of  teaching  in  the 
Church.  The  laying  on  of  hands  was  of  Jewish 
origin.  After  the  ceasing  of  miracles,  the  form  im- 
parted no  new  gifts  nor  graces.  The  man,  after  it, 
was  in  mind,  in  heart,  in  affection,  what  he  was  be- 
fore. Nothing  was  imparted  which  he  could  feel,  or 
see,  or  hear,  or  of  which  his  senses  or  conscience  could 
take  cognizance.  What,  then,  was  imparted  to  him  ? 
Nothing  but  simple  authority  to  preach  the  G-ospel 
and  to  administer  ordinances.  The  person  professed 
piety  and  a  call  to  the  office ;  and,  having  the  requi- 
site ability,  the  Church,  in  that  form,  expressed  its 
approbation  of  his  suitableness,  and  set  him  apart  to 
the  work.  The  laying  on  of  hands  is  merely  the 
form ;  the  substance  is  in  the  divine  call,  and  its  ap- 
proval by  the  Church.  Ordination  to  the  work  of 
the  ministry  is  simply  the  conferring  of  authority 
upon  a  man,  considered  pious  and  capable,  to  preach 
the  Gospel  and  administer  its  ordinances.  This  is 
performed  by  different  branches  of  the  Church  in  dif- 
ferent ways ;  in  one  by  bishops  and  presbyters ;  in 
another  by  presbyters  alone ;  in  another  by  the  suf- 
frages of  the  people.  There  is  nothing  plainer,  from 
Scripture  and  from  Church  history,  than  that  there 
was  a  diversity  in  the  form  of  ordination.  Some 
popish  writers  say  that  the  Pope  might  make  a  priest 
by  saying  "  Be  a  priest,"  without  any  ceremony.  Nei- 
ther Wickliff  nor  Knox  believed  in  the  necessity  of 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.        83 

Priestly  assumption  rebuked. 

the  imposition  of  hands.  Where  the  substance  exists, 
there  should  be  mutual  forbearance  as  to  the  form,  as 
the  Church  may  express  its  approbation  and  confer 
its  authority  in  a  variety  of  ways.  Nor  can  it  be 
shown  why  Andrew  Fuller  and  Eobert  Hall  should 
not  be  universally  regarded  as  ministers  of  Christ,  as 
much  as  William  Jay,  or  Thomas  Chalmers,  or  Eobert 
Leighton,  or  John  Newton.  For  a  little  Paseyite 
priest,  flitting  around  St.  Barnabas,  to  say  that  Alex- 
ander Duff  was  not  a  minister  of  Christ,  but  that  he 
was,  would  seem  to  be  enough  to  wake  up  a  broad 
smile  on  the  face  of  Christendom. 

These,  then  —  piety,  capacity,  and  authority — are 
the  elements  which,  when  united,  form  a  true  minis- 
ter of  the  Gospel.  And  on  the  ground  that  the 
Church  of  Christ  is  one,  the  authority  which  is  recog- 
nized by  one  branch  of  the  Evangelical  Church  should 
be  recognized  by  all.  And  thus  it  was  until  the  papal 
theory  of  apostolical  succession,  which  separates  all 
not  papists  from  the  fold  of  Christ,  was  permitted  to 
creep  into  the  Protestant  family  of  churches  in  the 
days  of  the  infamous  Laud.  And  as  this  is  the  only 
theory  in  opposition  to  our  statement  as  to  what  con- 
stitutes a  true  minister  of  the  Gospel,  it  calls  for  a 
brief  notice  at  our  hands.  It  requires  too  much  faith 
ever  to  command  extensive  belief;  and  its  conse- 
quences are  such  as  must,  sooner  or  later,  place  it,  by 
the  common  consent  of  the  Protestant  world,  among 
old  wives'  fables.  To  this  eminence  it  is  rapidly  at- 
taining. 

B2 


34        PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Prelatical  claims  refuted. 

The  theory  is  briefly  this,  that  the  persons  called 
bishops  were  each  ordained  by  a  preceding  bishop  up 
to  the  apostles,  whose  successors  the  bishops  are ;  that 
not  one  link  is  wanting  in  this  long  line  of  successive 
consecrations,  from  the  last  performed  up  to  the  apos- 
tles ;  that  ordination  by  these  bishops  alone  is  valid ; 
that  the  persons  ordained  by  them  are  the  only  true 
and  authorized  ministers  of  the  GosjdcI  ;  and  that  to 
them  alone  is  confined  the  promise,  "Lo,  I  am  with 
you  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world."  And 
this  is  the  theory  of  popery,  of  Puseyism,  of  High- 
Churchmen  every  where ;  and,  we  regret  to  add,  of 
some  very  good  men  who  are  classed  as  Low-Church- 
men. We  can  merely  give  the  heads  of  argument  in 
reply  to  this  theory. 

1.  There  is  not  any  authority  in  the  Scriptures  for 
bishops  at  all,  in  the  sense  of  the  theory.  The  term 
bishop  was  originally  applied  to  presbyters;  and 
presbyters  were  the  ancient  bishops,  and  are  the  only 
scriptural  bishops  now. 

2.  The  theory  has  no  foundation  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment nor  in  the  conduct  of  the  apostles. 

3.  In  the  ages  immediately  subsequent  to  that  of 
the  apostles,  presbyters  ordained  presbyters. 

4.  If  true  in  the  sense  of  the  theory,  it  is  destruc- 
tive of  the  status  of  those  who  make  it.  They  are 
either  in  the  line  of  the  unbroken  succession,  or  they 
are  not.  If  in  it,  their  ministrations  are  right  and 
lawful ;  if  not  in  it,  they  are  neither  right  nor  lawful, 
and  they  are  imposing  on  the  people.     Now  I  put 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  85 

The  argument  continued. 

them  on  tlie  proof  that  they  are  in  it.  Can  they  prove 
it  ?  Impossible.  They  may  go  back  a  few  links  in 
the  shore  end  of  the  chain,  but  soon  they  reach  the 
deep  waters  which  no  line  can  fathom.  Faith  that 
they  are  in  it  is  no  proof  that  they  are ;  and  unless 
they  can  prove  beyond  all  reasonable  doubt  that  they 
are  in  it,  if  conscientious,  they  will  never  presume 
again  to  officiate  for  Christ.  The  proof  has  been  often 
called  for,  but  has  never,  and  can  never  be  produced. 

5.  If  true  in  the  sense  of  the  theory,  the  dogma  is 
destructive  of  the  existence  of  the  visible  Church.  If 
bishops,  in  regular  succession  from  the  apostles  until 
now,  are  necessary  to  the  existence  of  the  Church, 
then  is  the  very  being  of  the  Church  a  matter  of  con- 
jecture— of  the  greatest  uncertainty.  If  one  link  is 
broken,  all  depending  on  it  fall ;  and  that  hundreds 
of  links  have  been  broken,  Archbishop  Whateley  and 
others  have  made  quite  clear. 

6.  Some  of  the  most  able  and  learned  bishops  and 
scholars  of  the  English  Episcopal  Church  have  denied 
utterly  the  theory,  and  have  admitted  the  vahdity  of 
ordination  by  presbyters. 

7.  The  theory  is  greatly  injurious  to  the  character 
of  those  who  teach  it.  Their  baptism  regenerates. 
Only  ordinances  administered  by  them  are  valid. 
They  preach  themselves  instead  of  Christ — Churchi- 
anity  instead  of  Christianity.  Soon  the  form  takes 
the  place  of  the  power ;  soon  the  hat  is  esteemed  of 
more  importance  than  the  head  it  covers.  And  in- 
stead of  being  humble  ministers  of  Christ,  they  be- 


SQ  PEEACHEES  AND  PEE  ACHING. 

Evils  of  the  pretended  succession. 

come  violent  sectarianists,  and  often  as  discourteous 
as  they  are  exclusive  and  bigoted. 

8.  The  theory  is  greatly  injurious  to  the  people  to 
whom  it  is  preached.  If  they  confide  in  their  Levite, 
and  receive  his  opinions,  they  sink  into  formalism, 
and  soon  regard  all  zeal  in  religion  as  enthusiasm, 
and  all  preaching  on  conviction,  conversion,  and  sanc- 
tification  as  far  more  fanatical  than  scriptural.  The 
minister  regenerates  them  in  baptism ;  prays  for  them 
in  set  form;  administers  ordinances  to  them;  and 
when  they  come  to  die,  makes  all  right !  Sometimes 
a  mind  shakes  off  this  torpor,  and  asks  as  to  the  valid- 
ity of  the  claims  of  the  minister ;  or,  if  a  minister,  as 
to  his  own  claims ;  and,  finding  them  defective  in  title, 
passes  over  to  Eome.  And  thus  many  have  passed 
the  Eubicon,  and  are  passing  it ;  and,  if  the  theory  is 
valid,  there  is  no  stopping  on  this  side  of  it.  Others 
inquire,  and,  finding  the  whole  a  fanciful  priest- work, 
pass  over  to  churches  where  faith  in  Christ,  not  faith 
in  the  Church,  is  preached  as  the  one  thing  needful. 
But,  as  a  rule,  the  people  become  formal,  ceremonial, 
exclusive ;  neglecters  of  the  commandments  of  God, 
and  fiery  zealots  for  a  fiction. 

9.  If  the  theory  is  true,  then  piety  and  truth  in  the 
pulpit — the  blessed  influences  of  the  Spirit  accompa- 
nying ordinances — the  faith,  fidelity,  and  fruitfulness 
of  the  people,  are  no  evidences  in  favor  of  preacher 
or  people,  if  ordination  by  bishops  is  wanting;  but 
if  the  true  succession  is  possessed,  then  there  may  be 
ranting  deism  in  the  desk,  blasphemy  on  the  altar, 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.        37 

The  Kalmucks.  A  distinction. 

and  superstition  among  tlie  people,  but  there  is  a  true 
ministry,  a  true  Church,  and  valid  ordinances !  ! 

Such  are  our  objections  to  the  theory  of  apostolical 
succession.  It  tends  to  "endless  genealogies;"  it 
leaves  the  Church  defenseless  against  clerical  oppres- 
sion ;  it  is  an  imposition  upon  common  sense,  and  is 
without  the  shadow  of  a  foundation  in  the  Scriptures 
or  in  true  history.  It  is  the  mainspring  and  the  main 
stay  of  priestcraft. 

The  Kalmucks  are  great  sticklers  for  the  "  succes- 
sion," and  give  it  to  us  in  a  way  that  we  can  under- 
stand it.  When  the  high-priest  dies,  his  body  is  burn- 
ed, and  the  ashes  are  carefully  collected  into  a  bottle. 
Every  day  his  successor  mixes  some  of  the  ashes  with 
water,  and  drinks  it,  until  all  the  ashes  are  used  up. 
And  thus  the  high-priest  is  really  taken  into  the  body 
of  his  successor.  This  is  "  apostoHcal  succession" 
among  the  Kalmucks.  It  is  more  easily  understood 
than  the  theory  of  Oxford  or  of  Eome,  and  is  far 
more  easily  swallowed. 

In  all  this  we  desire  to  be  understood  as  not  assail- 
ing episcopacy  as  a  form  of  church  government ;  we 
only  assail  the  theory  of  apostolical  succession,  which 
is  rejected  by  some  of  the  highest  and  ablest  ecclesi- 
astics of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  which  bases  the 
Church  and  the  ministry  upon  a  vapor  which  any 
wind  may  dissipate  and  any  sunbeam  dissolve.  Des- 
pots in  church  and  state  fly  to  divine  right  to  sustain 
their  claims  only  when  reason,  and  logic,  and  history 
fail  them.     Claims  based  on  divine  right  are  put  forth 


38  PEEACHEES  AND  PEEACHING. 


What  is  the  chaff  to  the  wheat? 


with  equal  boldness  in  Kome,  Oxford,  Mecca,  and 
Utah ;  and,  if  equally  bold,  tliej  are  equally  baseless. 
Nothing  but  the  true  has  any  divine  claim  on  our 
faith.  All  else  is  but  chaff  which  the  wind  driveth 
away. 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  39 


Adage  against  adage. 


CHAPTER  Y. 

An  old  Adage  reversed. — Education  Societies. — Cornelius  and 
Breckenridge. — Multiplication  of  Candidates  for  the  Ministry. — 
Some  Memories  of  Candidates. — Incompetent  Ministers  very- 
useless  Men. — The  Need  of  strict  Care  as  to  Candidates. 

That  "no  man  slionld  enter  the  ministry  who 
could  possibly  keep  out  of  it,"  was  an  adage  that 
once  ruled  on  this  subject.  That  was  the  day  when 
every  candidate  was  expected  to  receive  such  a  spirit- 
ual impulse  as  to  be  able  to  say,  "Woe  is  me  if  I 
preach  not  the  Gospel."  How  the  rule  worked  in  all 
cases  we  do  not  know;  as  a  Judas  was  among  the 
twelve  apostles,  we  may  infer  that  no  rule,  however 
strict — that  no  scrutiny,  however  severe — can  exclude 
unworthy  persons;  but  at  that  time  there  were  giants 
in  the  land,  who  laid  the  foundations  of  all  those  in- 
stitutions which  are  now  the  glory  of  the  Church  and 
of  the  country.  Under  the  influence  of  the  now 
sainted  Cornelius  and  Breckenridge,  two  of  the  bright- 
est lights  of  the  American  Church,  a  new  adage  was 
substituted  for  the  old  one,  and  the  converse  of  it, 
"That  no  pious  young  man  should  keep  out  of  the 
ministry  if  he  could  possibly  enter  it."  Theirs  was 
the  age  of  revivals,  when  young  men,  in  multitudes, 
were  brought  into  the  Church,  and  when,  under  the 
powerful  appeals  of  these  men,  candidates  for  the 


40  PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Discrimination.  Education  societies. 

ministry  greatly  multiplied.     The  vast  and  increasing 
destitution  of  the  country,  and  the  cries  of  the  perish- 
ing for  the  Bread  of  Life,  were  depicted  with  a  gor- 
geousness  of  eloquence  that  has  been  rarely  surpassed ; 
and  appeals  were  made  to  young  men  to  go  into  the 
fields  white  unto  the  harvest,  which  but  few  having  a 
spark  of  spiritual  life  could  resist.     The  eloquence  of 
Dr.  John  Breckenridge  upon  this  subject,  moving  as 
the  lyre  of  Orpheus,  is  yet  ringing  in  our  ears,  though 
twenty  winters  have  moaned  over  his  grave.  Societies 
were  formed,  and  schools  were  multiplied,  and  money 
was  raised  for  the  purpose  of  preparing  men  for  the 
work ;  and  the  danger  was  to  neglect  the  character  of 
candidates  in  the  great  desire  to  increase  their  number. 
And  on  this  side  lies  our  danger  yet.     We  admit  the 
number  to  be  of  great  importance,  in  order  to  meet 
the  wants  of  our  population ;  but  the  character,  and 
ability  to  preach,  are  much  greater.    One  such  man  as 
Chalmers  is  worth  an  army  of  ordinary  men ;  he  com- 
mands the  respect  of  men  for  the  Gospel,  while  others 
might  subject  it  to  ridicule.     A  popish  priest  may  be 
made  of  any  material,  as  it  requires  no  talents  and  but 
little  education  to  say  mass,  and  to  hear  confession,  and 
to  administer  extreme  unction.     And  so  talent  and 
education  are  the  less  necessary,  as  forms  in  the  wor- 
ship of  God  are  multiplied.    But  where  the  ]yreaching 
of  the  Gospel  is  retained  as  the  great  duty  of  the 
ministry,  the  greatest  care  should  be  exercised  as  to 
the  reception  of  candidates.     Our  Education  Societies 
have  done  an  incalculable  amount  of  good,  but  it  is  a 


PREACHEES  AND  PREACHING.  41 

Cracked  candidates. 

serious  question  whether  they  have  not  too  much 
facilitated  the  way  of  incompetent  persons  to  the 
ministry. 

We  have  some  reminiscences  which  present  them- 
selves as  illustrations  of  this  want  of  care  in  the  se- 
lection of  candidates.  Mr.  A.  was  from  Vermont,  and 
in  his  freshman  year.  "How  wide  is  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  Mr.  A.?"  asked  the  tutor  one  morning  at  reci- 
tation. ' '  Eighteen  miles  and  upward, ' '  was  the  reply. 
Mr.  A.  had  never  seen  the  sea  and  has  never  done 
any  thing  in  the  ministry.  "Conjugate  cerno,  Mr. 
B.,"  said  the  professor  to  a  young  man,  very  good, 
but  very  green.  "Cerno,  cernere,  crevi,  cractum," 
drawled  out  Mr.  B.  That  "cractum"  sent  him  back 
to  the  plow,  and  saved  to  the  world  a  good  farmer, 
and  preserved  the  Church  from  a  most  stupid  minister. 
Mr.  C.  was  the  son  of  a  baker.  In  the  school  of 
theology  he  wore  a  blue  coat  with  gilt  buttons,  and 
wrote  poetry,  and  did  every  thing — but  study.  He 
was  good-looking,  and  knew  it.  He  was  licensed  to 
preach,  but  his  popularity  did  not  rise  to  the  point  of 
his  ambition,  and  he  did  not  like  praying  extempore. 
He  renounced  the  religion  of  his  parents  for  baptismal 
regeneration,  apostolical  succession,  and  Puseyism 
generally.  If  yet  living,  he  is  up  to  boiling  heat  in 
Churchianity,  a  house  of  refuge  for  the  feeble-minded. 

A  young  man  left  college  in  his  sophomore  year 
because  of  ill  health,  and  became  an  usher  in  a  school. 
Wishing  to  study  theology  while  teaching,  he  applied 
to  the  pastor  to  teach  him.     He  consented,  and  told 


42  PREACHEES  AND  PREACHING. 

The  same  sort. 

him  to  procure  Dick,  and  to  study  carefully  a  few 
lectures,  and  to  come  on  a  certain  day,  when  he  would 
hear  him.  He  came  at  the  time  appointed.  "Well," 
said  the  pastor,  "how  far  have  you  read?"  "To  the 
fixed  stars,"  was  his  reply.  "  You  had  better  remain 
there,"  said  the  pastor.  He  had  been  reading  Dick's 
Christian  Philosopher,  and  thought  he  was  studying 
Dick's  Theology!  "I  want  to  be  a  minister,"  said  a 
boy  eighteen  years  of  age,  as  he  took  a  chair  in  his 
pastor's  study  one  morning.  After  measuring  him 
with  his  eye,  the  following  brief  conversation  ensued. 
Are  you  hopefully  converted?  Yes,  sir.  When  were 
you  converted?  About  six  weeks  ago.  Who  con- 
verted you?  The  Methodists,  sir.  Have  you  had  a 
good  education?  Yes,  sir.  Can  you  spell  cough? 
Oh  yes — cof.  Can  you  spell  laugh  ?  Laf.  Who  did 
you  say  converted  you?  The  Methodists,  sir.  The 
conversation  ended  in  his  sending  him  to  the  Method- 
ist minister  for  advice,  who  agreed  with  him  in  the 
remarkable  fitness  of  the  young  man  to  remain  where 
he  was. 

And  when  an  incompetent  man  enters  the  ministry, 
he  is  the  least  useful  of  all  men.  As  an  elder,  deacon, 
or  private  member  of  the  Church,  he  might  be  very 
useful;  but  his  incompetency  unfits  him  for  the  pul- 
pit, and  the  fact  that  he  is  a  minister  unfits  him,  at 
least  in  his  own  estimation,  for  the  ordinary  duties  of 
life.  He  thinks  it  degrading  to  his  sacred  character 
to  engage  in  any  secular  calling,  and  rather  than  do 
so  he  will  prefer  to  live  on  the  charity  of  others. 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  43 

Mistake  of  a  lifetime. 

There  are  ministers  who  were  brought  up  in  early 
life  to  professions,  to  which  they  can  not  be  persuaded 
to  return  to  make  a  living  for  their  families,  although 
unable,  for  years,  to  find  a  congregation  which  can 
bear  for  any  length  of  time  with  their  drawling  dull- 
ness. They  will  wander  from  place  to  place — they 
will  live  upon  their  brethren — they  will  borrow 
money  and  incur  debts  without  any  prospect  of  being 
able  to  pay  them;  but  they  will  not  condescend  to 
work.  They  are  waiting  and  watching  for  vacancies, 
and  when  they  occur  they  are  filled  by  others.  Like 
the  infirm  at  the  Pool  of  Bethesda,  they  are  waiting 
for  the  movement  of  the  waters;  but  when  they  move 
there  is  none  to  put  them  in,  and  another  steps  in  be- 
fore them.  Some  of  these  think  the  ministry  is  over- 
crowded, though  millions  in  the  land  are  famishing 
for  the  Bread  of  Life,  and  spend  at  least  some  of  their 
time  in  carping  at  their  more  successful  brethren,  and 
at  the  churches  which  have  so  far  departed  from  the 
simplicity  of  the  Gospel  as  to  prefer  figure,  and 
flourish,  and  fancy,  to  solid  worth! 

What  we  mean  to  say  is,  that  the  door  which  gives 
admission  to  the  ministry  should  be  more  strictly 
guarded  than  hitherto.  Ministers,  Churches,  Church 
Courts,  and  Educational  Societies  should  increase  their 
vigilance  there.  No  candidate  should  be  encouraged 
who  does  not  give  fair  promise  of  usefulness;  and 
when  the  promises  given  at  first  are  not  subsequently 
realized,  he  should  be  promptly  advised  that  there  are 
other  departments  of  usefulness  in  the  world  for  which 


4A  PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Character  above  numbers. 

lie  is  better  qualified  tlian  tliat  of  preaching  the  Gos- 
pel. A  course  like  this  might  diminish  the  number 
of  candidates,  but  it  would  increase  the  efficiency  of 
the  ministry.  It  would  save  to  other  departments 
of  usefulness  the  large  class  of  ministers  out  of  place. 
Character  is  to  be  preferred  to  numbers — quality  to 
quantity.  The  three  hundred  men  of  Grideon  who 
"lapped,  putting  their  hand  to  their  mouth,"  were 
worth  more  than  the  thirty-and-two  thousand  who 
came  together  at  the  first  sound  of  his  trumpet.  If 
God  gave  his  only  and  well-beloved  Son  to  purchase 
salvation  for  sinners,  the  Church  should  consecrate  its 
most  gifted  sons  to  the  preaching  of  the  purchased 
salvation  to  all  men. 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  45 

The  true  minister.  Popes,  cardinals,  bishops. 


CHAPTER  YI. 

Is  the  Ministry  sufficiently  isolated  from  the  World? — Popery  an 
Institution  of  the  World. — English  Bishops  Legislators. — Turn- 
ing aside  from  the  Work  of  the  Ministry. — Specimens  and  Illus- 
trations. 

Do  ministers  keep  themselves  sufficiently  isolated 
from  worldly  entanglements?  The  true  minister  is 
a  man  set  apart  from  a  common  to  a  sacred  use.  As 
a  minister,  he  is  to  know  nothing  but  Christ  and  him 
crucified.  His  one  object  is  to  save  men  by  the  sim- 
ple preaching  of  the  simple  Gospel,  in  season  and  out 
of  season.  And  if  he  ever  turns  aside  to  any  secular 
pursuit,  it  should  be  as  Paul  turned  to  tent-making 
— ^to  eke  out  a  living;  as  the  needle  is  sometimes  at- 
tracted from  its  natural  direction,  to  tremble  back  to 
the  pole  as  soon  as  possible. 

There  was  a  time  when  popes  made  war  and  raised 
armies ;  when  cardinals  were  ministers  of  state ;  when 
bishops  led  contending  hosts  to  battle ;  when  priests 
were  recruiting  officers,  and  sent  forth  their  people  to 
the  deadly  conflict  from  the  altar  and  confessional. 
That  was  a  dark  period  in  the  Church,  when  the  sun 
which  rose  over  Judea  set  at  Rome.  And  yet  is  the 
Pope  the  temporal  head  of  a  kingdom  of  this  world ; 
the  cardinals  are  his  nobles ;  and  archbishops  are  his 
rulers  of  the  provinces,  into  which  he  has  divided  the 


46        PEEACHEES  AND  PEEACHING. 

Popery  of  this  world.  English  bishop?. 

world,  for  the  exercise  of  spiritual  dominion  every 
where — and  of  temporal,  where  it  can  be  convenient- 
ly done.  Hence  popery  is  not  so  much  a  Christian 
as  it  is  a  worldly  organization,  framed  and  perpetu- 
ated for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  a  corrupt  priest- 
hood. It  has  abandoned  the  teachings  of  Christ  and 
his  apostles,  and  the  state  of  the  nations  where  it  pre- 
vails is  a  standing  protest  before  heaven  and  earth 
against  it. 

Nor  is  the  ministry  of  the  Protestant  Church 
purged  from  this  leaven  of  worldliness  which  it  has 
received  from  the  papal.  In  England  bishops  are 
legislators,  and  may  be  seen  parading  their  lawn  in 
the  House  of  Lords.  The  Marquis  of  Westminster 
or  the  Duke  of  Argyle  are  there  in  the  dress  of  pri- 
vate gentlemen,  but  a  Bishop  of  Oxford  or  of  Exeter, 
are  there  in  full  millinery,  and  are  not  unfrequently 
traihng  their  robes  in  the  dust,  if  not  dirt,  of  party 
politics.  What  a  place  for  the  successors  of  the  apos- 
tles, who  lived  by  catching  fish,  and  mending  nets,  and 
making  tents ! !  And  the  state  of  the  Church  over 
which  they  preside  is  a  protest  to  heaven  against  such 
perversion  of  its  ministry.  It  is  the  most  richly  en- 
dowed, and  its  people  the  least  religiously  instructed, 
and  the  most  prone  to  apostasy,  of  any  church  of  Prot- 
estant Christendom.  This  we  say  while  we  enter- 
tain love  and  reverence  for  the  noble  men  who,  in  the 
spirit  of  their  Master  and  of  the  Eeformers,  are  seek- 
ing to  leaven  the  nation  with  the  simple  Grospel. 
Even  in  the  city  of  London,  a  minister  of  that  Church 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  47 

Questions  as  to  American  clergy.  Political  minister. 

could  be  found  wlio  could  invoke  tlie  aid  of  the  law 
to  protect  the  poor  people  of  an  overgrown  parish 
from  the  simple  preaching  of  the  Way  of  Life !  Yes, 
and  the  law  came  bounding  to  his  aid ! ! 

But  here,  in  our  own  co^mtry,  where  the  Gospel  is 
free,  and  where  law  has  nothing  to  do  with  churches 
or  ministers,  save  to  protect  them  in  their  rights,  are 
there  no  worldly  entanglements  detrimental  to  the 
character  and  to  the  efficiency  of  the  ministry  ?  Are 
there  no  turnings  aside  from  the  preachings  of  Christ 
and  him  crucified,  to  the  promotion  of  doubtful 
schemes  of  reform — to  political  partisanship — to  the 
pursuit  of  worldly  gain  ?  Does  not  the  question  sug- 
gest names  to  every  reader  of  persons  who  are  at 
once  the  proof  and  the  illustration  that  there  are? 
And  does  not  the  fact  that  there  are  so  many  such 
cases  greatly  weaken  the  influence  of  the  ministry  for 
good? 

The  Eev.  A.  B.  was  a  man  of  fine  appearance — of 
fluent  utterance — of  extended  popularity,  and  of  con- 
siderable success.  Up  to  a  given  time  he  was  heard 
with  great  interest  by  the  good  people  of  every  name, 
wherever  he  preached.  Parties  in  his  state  were 
nearly  equally  divided  as  to  the  candidates  for  the 
presidency ;  and  as  he  was  very  popular  with  the  peo- 
ple of  his  own  Church  all  over  the  state,  he  was  in- 
duced to  run  for  Congress,  with  the  hope  that  his 
name  would  bring  many  of  the  opposing  party  to 
vote  for  the  ticket  bearing  his  name.  Soon  the  min- 
ister was  lost  in  the  politician.     He  was  defamed  and 


48        PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

A  sneer.  A  talk  in  a  Legislature. 

applauded  at ''  mass  meetings."  He  became  a  heated 
partisan,  and,  for  the  time  being,  deserted  the  cross 
for  the  '^  hickory  pole."  Greatly  to  the  credit  of  his 
own  religious  partisans,  they  refused  to  vote  for  him, 
and  he  lost  his  election,  and  his  character  too.  As, 
when  one  member  of  the  body  suffers,  all  suffer  with 
it,  so  did  the  ministry  of  the  state  suffer  by  the  con- 
duct of  this  reverend  politician.  "  There  is  a  fair 
specimen  of  your  ministers,"  political  witlings  would 
say,  "  who  are  ready  to  desert  the  cross  for  Congress 
for '  eight  dollars  a  day.' "  What  has  become  of  "  The 
Eeverend  Defeated  Member  of  Congress,"  as  he  was 
sarcastically  called,  I  know  not ;  but  he  never  could 
be  the  man  he  was  previous  to  his  somerset  from  the 
pulpit  to  politics. 

But  a  few  years  since  we  were  a  looker  on  during 
a  debate  in  the  Legislature  of  one  of  our  states.  We 
saw  in  one  of  the  seats  a  man  who  was  once  a  minis- 
ter, who  preached  in  our  pulpit,  who  was  an  able  pas- 
tor, who  became  a  speculator  in  stocks,  and,  last  of 
all,  a  politician !  "  Who  is  that  ?"  we  asked  of  a  sen- 
ator who  accompanied  us,  an  acquaintance  of  former 

days.     "  Oh,  that  is  Senator ,  the  Kev.  Mr. 

of  former  days,  but  who  now  cares  less  for  his  Bible 
than  for  the  bill  he  is  advocating,"  was  the  reply.  "I 
wish,"  said  our  friend,  "you  would  keep  your  minis- 
ters in  their  places ;  they  come  here  on  the  tide  of 
abolitionism  and  kindred  excitements;  I  know  not 
what  they  are  as  ministers,  but  they  are  the  most  cor- 
rupt politicians  in  the  state."     This  we  were  prepared 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  49 

People  to  be  pitied.  The  Rev.  C.  D. 

to  hear,  because  the  man  who  can  desert  his  position 
as  an  embassador  for  Christ  for  the  arena  of  party  pol- 
itics, and  the  party  wranghng  of  a  Legislature,  must 
be  weak  in  principle.  We  are  sorry  for  the  people 
whose  preacher  is  a  party  politician,  and  for  the 
Church  which  allows  its  ministers  thus  to  serve  God 
and  Mammon. 

The  Rev.  C.  D.  was  a  man  finely  developed,  of  in- 
telligent countenance,  well  educated ;  a  fine  preacher, 
who  could  make  his  mark  in  any  assembly  of  men. 
He  was,  besides,  a  man  of  business  tact,  of  sleepless 
industry,  and  of  no  little  knowledge  of  men.  Had  he 
continued  with  simple-hearted  devotion  to  the  duties 
of  his  calling,  he  might  have  risen  to  its  highest  posi- 
tions, and  have  left  behind  him  an  enduring  fame. 
But,  unfortunately  for  him,  the  death  of  a  relative 
placed  him  in  the  possession  of  some  money,  and  he 
was  soon  seized  with  the  burning  idea  of  increasing 
it.  Soon  his  skill  for  business  became  apparent  and 
confessed.  His  property  rapidly  increased,  and  his 
desire  of  accumulation  increased  as  rapidly.  He  em- 
barked first  in  this  scheme,  then  in  that.  He  gave 
up  the  ministry  as  a  calling.  He  was  avaricious  and 
ostentatious;  sometimes  the  one  passion,  and  some- 
times the  other  held  the  reins  of  power,  and  his  life 
seemed  a  conflict  between  them.  His  successes  in- 
duced others  to  connect  themselves  with  him.  He 
risked  much ;  he  lost  all.  His  character  as  a  minister 
was  gone;  his  property  soon  followed;  those  who 
trusted  him  cast  out  his  name  as  evil,  cind  the  cur-scs 


50  PREACHERS   AND   PREACHING. 

True  ministers  suffer  by  such.  Rich  ministers  close. 

of  all  that  lost  by  him  daily  rested  upon  his  head. 
And  the  entire  ministry  of  the  Church  of  Christ  suf- 
fered through  him. 

And  we  regret  to  say  that  this  is  only  one  of  a 
class  of  ministers  who  weaken  their  influence,  and 
that  of  their  more  circumspect  brethren,  by  undue 
worldliness — by  making  haste  to  be  rich.  Mr.  E. 
was  a  beloved  pastor  of  a  large  church ;  he  was  in- 
vited to  a  public  position  of  importance ;  he  was  en- 
ticed into  speculations ;  he  acquired  a  love  for  it ;  he 
made  money  rapidly ;  he  risked,  on  a  prospect  of 
great  gain ;  he  lost  all.  He  was  dismissed  from  his 
position,  and  without  money  or  character  he  spent  his 
declining  years  here  and  there,  as  he  found  any  thing 
to  do.  Had  he  remained  true  to  his  profession,  he 
might  have  been  among  the  brightest  lights  of  the 
American  pul^^it. 

And  when  ministers  succeed  in  making  money, 
they  are  less  liberal  in  the  use  of  it  than  are  men  of 
the  world.  And  this  is  reasonable ;  for,  when  men 
degrade  their  profession  and  violate  their  obligations 
in  order  to  make  money,  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that 
they  would  be  liberal  in  the  use  of  it.  We  were  told 
once  of  a  minister,  worth  thirty  thousand  dollars,  who 
subscribed  twenty -five  cents  toward  a  library  for  the 
Sabbath-school  of  his  congregation !  Indeed,  we  have 
never  known  a  minister  to  give  way  to  a  worldly 
spirit  with  any  advantage  to  himself  To  succeed, 
his  studies  must  be  deserted,  his  people  neglected; 
his  heart  must  become  cold,  and  his  affections  alien- 


PREACHERS   AND   PREACHING.          '  51 

A  bank  failure.  Worldly  ministers  cursed. 

ated  from  his  work.  And  soon  the  love  of  money 
will  overshadow  the  love  of  souls.  A  minister,  long 
since  deceased,  invested  his  means  in  a  bank.  "While 
looking  over  the  morning  paper  at  his  breakfast-table, 
he  read  the  astounding  news  that  the  bank  had  failed. 
In  a  mournful  tone  he  exclaimed :  "  There,  there,  the 
fruits  of  a  thirty  years'  ministry  are  gone  at  a  blow." 
And  where  God  has  not  blown  upon  the  wealth  ac- 
quired by  ministers  to  the  neglect  of  their  profession, 
of  their  duties  to  God  and  to  man,  he  has  often  made 
it  a  curse  to  their  children.  The  children  of  faithful 
ministers  have  been  a  great  blessing  to  this  land,  but 
not  so  of  unfaithful  ones.  The  minister  who  preach- 
es agai-nst  the  world  and  yet  lives  for  it — who  dis- 
courses from  the  text,  "  The  love  of  money  is  the  root 
of  all  evil,"  and  yet  makes  money  his  idol — mocks 
both  God  and  man,  and  may  expect  to  die  as  did 
"Wolsey,  rejected  of  his  king  and  of  his  God.  His 
children  will  be  likely  to  reject  his  doctrines  and  to 
follow  his  practice. 


52  PREACHERS   AND   PREACHING. 

Rev.  E.  F.  Notoriety.  Lorenzo  Dow. 


CHAPTER  YII. 

Is  the  Ministry  sufficiently  isolated  from  the  World?  continued. — 
Other  Illustrations. — Notoriety  sought  by  Queerness,  by  isms,  and 
Hobbies. — The  Scotchman. — The  Rights  of  Ministers,  and  the 
Limits  of  their  Rights. 

We  are  yet  discussing  tlie  question  wliether  minis- 
ters keep  themselves  sufficiently  free  from  worldly 
entanglements,  and  showing  the  effects  of  such  en- 
tanglements upon  them.  And  we  are  giving  illustra- 
tions which  may  be  considered  imaginary  or  other- 
wise. Suffice  it  to  say,  that  the  last  few  years  have 
produced  too  many  answering  the  descriptions  given. 

The  Rev.  E.  F.,  when  he  first  rose  to  public  notice, 
was  one  of  the  most  promising  young  men  of  the 
Church.  He  was  logical,  and  terse,  and  eloquent,  and 
was  invited  to  make  addresses  on  public  occasions  all 
over  the  Northern  States.  He  thus  contracted  an  itch 
for  notoriety,  which  seems  to  be  more  than  a  cuta- 
neous disease  with  some  persons.  The  surest  and 
shortest  way  of  securing  notoriety  is  to  become  queer 
or  peculiar,  or  to  become  fanatical  on  some  of  the  isms. 
Lorenzo  Dow  obtained  much  of  his  fame  by  his 
blanket,  and  by  now  and  then  throwing  one  leg  over 
the  pulpit,  when  it  was  low  enough  to  admit  of  it. 
The  scarlet  coat,  and  breeches,  and  stockings  of  a 
famous  preacher  in  his  day  were  his  only  attractions, 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.         53 

Maffit.  An  abolitionist.  Suicide. 

and  these  drew  multitudes  to  hear  him.  The  florid 
nonsense  of  Maffit  often  left  such  men  as  Mason, 
and  Spring,  and  Eomeyn  to  preach  to  almost  empty 
churches.  Mappin  with  his  shilling  razors,  and  Moses 
with  his  cheap  trowsers,  have  taught  many  preachers 
the  path  of  fame.  That  is  not  the  quiet  way  by  which 
the  acorn  grows  up  to  the  towering  oak,  but  the  noisy 
way  of  drum  and  trumpet,  by  which  mountebanks 
attract  a  crowd. 

Knowing  the  certainty  of  isms  to  lift  up  to  notori- 
ety, the  Rev.  E.  F.  seized  upon  abolitionism.  He  be- 
came a  lecturer.  He  flourished  at  abolition  conven- 
tions. He  became  a  political  abolitionist,  and  stumped 
his  state  for  Birney.  He  denounced  the  Church  and 
the  State,  because  they  permitted  the  relation  of  mas- 
ter and  slave  to  exist.  Finally,  the  Bible,  in  his  view, 
taught  nothing  but  anti-slavery,  and  he  could  preach, 
talk,  or  pray  on  nothing  else.  This  was  the  Grospel 
by  which  he  would  reform  men ;  this  was  the  Christ 
he  preached  to  men ;  this  became  the  great  point  in 
religion  and  morals.  And  he  obtained  the  notoriety 
he  sought ;  for  his  name  became  a  synonym  for  fanat- 
icism when  at  white  heat,  which  is  the  intensive  of 
the  red.  And  what  became  of  him?  As  no  Church 
was  pure  enough  for  him,  he  abjured  all  churches,  and 
set  up  one  of  his  own,  of  which  he  was  the  prophet, 
priest,  and  king ;  and  a  man  who  might  have  written 
his  name  upon  the  rock  with  a  pen  of  iron,  dwindled 
down  to  a  fanatic ;  and,  shorn  of  the  lock  of  his  strength 
by  his  own  hands,  has  fallen  into  neglect,  if  not  into 
contempt.     Suicide  is  the  worst  of  all  deaths ! 


54:         PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Many  such.  The  ministry  weakened.  The  Scotchman. 

And  how  many  ministers  are  following  in  the  foot- 
steps of  the  Kev.  B.  F. — turning  aside  from  the  great 
work  of  entreating  sinners  in  Christ's  stead  to  be  rec- 
onciled to  God,  to  scolding  on  the  subject  of  slavery, 
or  some  similar  topic?  Their  people  ask  bread,  and 
they  give  them  a  stone ;  for  fish,  and  they  give  them 
a  serpent.  What  have  ministers  to  do  with  slavery 
more  than  apostles  had?  If  it  be  a  sin,  up  to  the 
highest  point  at  which  it  has  ever  been  placed  as  such, 
is  not  the  Gospel  the  best  remedy  for  its  removal? 
Nor  can  there  be  a  doubt  but  that  those  whose  Gospel 
is  anti-slavery  are  weakening  the  influence  of  the 
ministry  all  over  the  country.  The  simple  fact  that 
a  man  was  a  minister  used  to  carry  him  all  over  the 
land,  and  give  him  free  access  to  all  churches  and  to 
all  good  people;  but  now  the  name  is  no  guarantee 
for  sober,  substantial  piety — that  the  man  bearing  it 
is  not  a  missionary  of  some  one  of  the  many  isms  of 
the  day.  A  few  years  since,  when  temperance  and 
abolition  were,  with  many,  the  Old  Testament  and  the 
ISTew,  a  Scotchman  traveled  from  Albany  to  Buffalo 
seeking  for  a  farm  on  which  to  settle,  with  his  family. 
He  honored  the  Sabbath,  and  sought  on  that  day  the 
sanctuary,  wherever  he  was.  He  returned,  stating 
that  he  could  not  settle  in  that  country,  as  he  heard 
nothing  from  the  pulpit  on  the  Sabbath  but  sermons 
"  about  negroes  and  whisky." 

Now  all  that  we  mean  to  say  is  this,  that  ministers 
of  the  Gospel,  far  more  than  formerly,  permit  them- 
selves to  be  drawn  aside  from  their  direct  work  to 


PREACHERS   AND   PREACHING.  55 


A  word  to  ministers.  Their  right.  Slavery. 

secular  or  semi-secular  pursuits,  and  that  by  such  a 
course  they  injure  their  own  character  and  influence, 
and  subject  all  their  brethren  to  reproach.  If  a  man, 
having  selected  the  ministry,  finds  that  he  has  mis- 
taken his  calling,  let  him  give  it  up ;  but  let  no  man 
seek  to  be  a  minister,  a  speculator,  a  politician,  or  a 
fanatical  propagator  of  isms  at  the  same  time;  and, 
unless  this  mingling  of  pursuits  with  the  ministry, 
with  which  it  has  no  connection  or  affinity,  is  checked, 
the  Charch  and  the  country  will  reap  the  bitter  fruits 
by-and-by.  It  has  already  produced  many  scoffing 
infidels. 

We  wish  here  to  be  entirely  understood.  The 
ministers  of  the  Gospel  are  men,  and  have  all  the 
rights  of  citizens.  They  have  a  perfect  right  to  their 
opinions  upon  all  subjects  which  excite  public  atten- 
tion. If  they  have  property,  they  should  take  care 
of  it;  if  they  have  not,  none  can  blame  them  for 
prudent  economy  in  seeking  to  save  something  for 
their  declining  years.  Old  ministers  are  too  often 
treated  as  old  horses,  turned  out  into  very  poor  pas- 
turage, and  by  the  people  to  whom  their  lives  were 
the  richest  blessing.  They  have  a  perfect  right  to 
their  opinions  on  all  questions,  political,  and  moral, 
and  reformatory.  We  are  free  to  say  that  slavery  is 
a  great  national  evil ;  that  it  is  the  great  apple  of 
discord  among  these  glorious  states;  that,  with  our 
present  views  and  feelings,  we  could  not  be  the  owners 
of  slaves.  We  are  free  citizens  of  a  free  country,  and 
have,  with  every  other  citizen,  the  perfect  right  of 


56        PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

One  theme  for  the  pulpit.  Not  to  be  given  up. 

private  judgment;  but,  with  the  Bible  before  us,  we 
must  not  denounce  all  who  differ  with  us  on  either 
side  of  this  perplexing  question.  And,  above  all,  as 
ministers  of  the  Gospel,  we  must  not  make  it  the  one 
theme  of  our  ministry  in  the  pulpit.  There  our  one 
theme  should  be,  ''Eepentance  toward  God,  and  faith 
in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  And  when  we  depart 
from  that  theme,  it  is  at  the  expense  of  our  own 
character  as  ministers,  and  without  conferring  any 
special  benefit  on  the  cause  we  advocate.  Our  con- 
gregations assemble  on  the  Sabbath  day  to  hear  the 
Gospel,  to  be  instructed  as  to  the  way  of  life,  to  be 
told  that  the  wages  of  sin  is  death,  but  that  the  gift 
of  God  is  eternal  life ;  and  to  pass  from  these  high 
themes  to  fiery  declamation  on  any  of  the  isms  of  the 
day  is  to  turn  aside  from  the  ascending  commission 
of  our  risen  Lord,  and  to  ask  our  people  to  drink  of 
the  muddy  waters  of  strife,  instead  of  the  pure  waters 
of  the  river  of  life.  As  citizens  we  have  our  privi- 
leges, with  which  no  man  must  interfere ;  as  ministers 
of  Jesus  Christ,  we  are  bcamd  by  every  law  of  obliga- 
tion and  duty  to  abstain  from  "perverse  disputings  of 
men  of  corrupt  minds,  and  destitute  of  the  truth,"  and 
to  address  ourselves  to  the  great  work  of  beseeching 
men,  in  Christ's  stead,  to  be  reconciled  to  God.  The 
Gospel  ministry  is  a  great  work;  when  men  turn 
aside  from  it  to  be  the  missionaries  of  some  ism,  they 
are  bound  to  magnify  that  ism  far  beyond  its  import- 
ance, so  as  to  excuse  their  delinquency.  Hence  pri- 
vate citizens  can  afford  to  be  moderate  in  their  views 


PEEACHEES   AND   PEEACHING.  57 

Fanatical  ministers  little  trusted.  Charlatans. 

upon  given  exciting  topics ;  but  the  minister,  who,  to 
advocate  them,  ceases  to  preach  Christ,  in  order  to 
maintain  his  consistency,  is  compelled  to  be  a  fanatic ; 
and  hence,  as  a  rule,  fanatical  ministers  are  the  most 
fanatical  of  men,  and  the  least  influential  and  trusted. 
In  our  early  ministry  we  knew  a  man,  gifted  and 
eloquent,  who  turned  aside  from  the  ministry  first  as 
a  reformer  in  eating,  then  in  drinking,  then  in  dress, 
then  in  religion.  Then  he  would  devote  himself  to 
any  reformatory  measure  that  would  pay  best.  He 
finally  took  up  lecturing  on  his  own  account,  taking 
up  collections  for  his  support,  and  for  the  benefit  of 
the  cause!  He  fell  into  disrepute,  became  addicted  to 
some  of  the  vices  from  which  he  would  have  reformed 
the  world,  and  died  a  sot.  The  reformation  of  the 
world  is  hopeless  unless  it  can  be  reformed  by  the 
Gospel.  Those  who  seek  its  reformation  in  any  other 
way  are  charlatans. 

C2 


58         PKEACHEKS  AND  PEEACHING. 

Old  ministers.  J.  Q.  Adams.  Marcy,  Cass. 


CHAPTEE  YIII. 

Old  Ministers. — "Why  Exceptions  to  other  old  Men? — J.  Q.  Adams. 
— Secretary  Marcy. — Chancellor  Kent. — Some  Ministers  popular 
down  to  old  Age. — Why  are  not  all  ? — The  Nature  of  the  Ministry. 
— Drafts  made  on  their  Feelings. — The  sudden  Transitions  from 
Scenes  of  Joy  to  those  of  Mourning. 

Ministers  are  not  exempt  from  any  of  the  great 
laws  of  humanity.  They  live  in  no  mystic  Eden, 
within  whose  inclosures  sin  has  never  entered,  and 
where  its  consequences  are  unfelt.  Life,  with  them 
as  with  others,  has  its  spring,  summer,  autumn,  and 
winter.  They  grow  old  as  do  others.  But  why  are 
old  ministers  an  exception  to  the  rule  which  obtains 
as  to  other  old  men  ?  That  they  are  so,  as  a  rule,  is 
quite  obvious.  An  old  physician,  unless  too  old,  is 
preferred  to  a  young  one.  Lawyers,  merchants,  bank- 
ers, statesmen,  artisans,  scholars,  soldiers,  are  often  in 
the  vigorous  pursuit  of  their  profession  at  seventy  and 
upward,  unless  enfeebled  by  bad  habits  or  by  disease. 
John  Quincy  Adams  was  yet  "the  old  man  eloquent," 
before  whose  withering  sarcasms  the  strongest  men 
quailed,  when  approaching  eighty.  The  late  Secre- 
tary Marcy,  whose  sudden  death  filled  the  land  with 
mourning,  was  one  of  the  most  able  of  living  diploma- 
tists at  seventy.  His  venerable  successor,  Cass,  now 
our  political  Nestor,  went  up  to  the  bureau  of  State, 


PREACHEKS   AND   PREA€HmG.  69 

Kent.  Astor.  Radetzky.  Dr.  Xott. 

it  is  said,  in  his  seventy-fifth  year.  The  late  Chancel- 
lor Kent  was  consulted  on  all  great  questions  when 
eighty  years  old.  Girard  and  Astor  managed  their 
vast  estates  with  great  skill  down  to  fourscore  years. 
Wellington,  and  Radetzky  of  Austria,  were  at  home 
amid  the  roar  of  the  cannon,  "  with  confused  noise 
and  garments  rolled  in  blood,"  when  far  advanced  in 
life.  And  the  question  arises  why  old  ministers  are 
not  as  acceptable  in  their  profession,  and  as  much 
sought  for,  as  are  old  lawyers  or  old  physicians  ? 

There  are,  now  and  then,  cases  of  ministers  who 
continue  popular  and  acceptable  to  seventy-and-five 
years.  Such  were  Drs.  Miller  and  Alexander,  of 
Princeton ;  and  Dr.  Emmons,  the  last  of  the  cocked 
hats  ;  and  Bishops  White  and  Moore  ;  such  is  the  yet 
living  President  of  Union  College,  Dr.  Nott,  whose 
heart  yet  glows  with  the  fire  of  youth  at  ninety -five. 
But  such  men  are  exceptions  to  the  general  rule ;  and 
in  looking  over  the  long  list  of  our  acquaintances,  we 
know  but  few  living  ministers  at  sixty  who  are  not 
now  less  influential  by  several  degrees  than  they  were 
ten  years  ago.  And  the  review  is  enough  to  make 
those  of  us  who,  like  myself,  are  ranging  between 
fifty  and  sixty  to  see  well  to  our  ways  and  to  our 
habits.  At  the  very  age  when  congregations  are  un- 
willing to  call  a  minister,  or  are  seeking  to  dismiss 
him,  or  to  buy  him  off  on  as  small  a  pension  as  pos- 
sible, physicians  and  lawyers  are  in  the  full  tide  of  a 
lucrative  practice ;  men  are  elevated  to  be  presidents 
or  governors  of  states,  and  to  be  directors  of  large 


60  PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Nature  of  the  ministry.  Range  of  subjects  wide. 

moneyed  corporations,  or  are  sent  by  the  state  on  mis- 
sions to  foreign  courts ;  and  merchants,  artisans,  and 
farmers  are  in  the  zealous  pursuit  of  their  calhng. 
Tjiere  must  be  a  reason  for  all  this,  either  in  the  na- 
ture of  the  calling  of  the  ministry  itself,  or  in  the  hab- 
its of  ministers. 

In  accounting  for  this,  we  admit  that  much  may  be 
said  in  reference  to  the  nature  of  the  ministry.  Min- 
isters have  to  do  daily  with  the  most  solemn  truths 
and  the  most  solemn  realities.  Their  minds  and  hearts 
are,  or  should  be,  constantly  occupied  with  the  vanity 
of  things  temporal,  and  the  infinite  importance  of 
things  spiritual.  Solemn,  sombre  thoughts,  big  with 
the  fate  of  myriads  of  men,  are  those  with  which  they 
have  daily  to  do.  True,  there  is  an  infinite  range  of 
subjects  for  their  study  and  discussion ;  but  yet  all 
these,  so  far  as  their  ministry  is  concerned,  converge  to 
one  point — to  induce  sinners  to  he  reconciled  to  God.  As 
botanists,  they  may  traverse  all  the  fields  of  earth, 
and  see  the  glory  of  God  unfolded  in  every  leaf  of 
every  tree  and  flower ;  as  geologists,  they  may  climb 
the  mountains,  and  dig  into  the  bowels  of  the  earth  for 
minerals ;  as  scholars,  they  may  master  the  languages 
of  the  dead  past,  and  enrich  the  world  by  their  anti- 
quarian researches ;  as  astronomers,  they  may  soar 
among  the  stars,  and,  like  Newton,  weigh  them  in 
their  balances,  and  tell  the  strength  of  the  unseen 
chains  that  link  the  planets  in  their  orbs ;  but  yet,  as 
ministers  among  the  people,  they  are  only  to  know 
"  Christ  and  him  crucified."     Their  harp  has  many 


PREACHERS   AND   PREACHING.  61 

Tendency  to  monotony.  Drafts  on  their  feelings. 

Strings,  but  their  tune  is  one.  How  far  this  tends  to 
beget  a  monotonous  state  of  mind,  unfriendly  to  its 
continued  freshness,  down  to  old  age,  we  may  not  now 
stop  to  inquire.  It,  no  doubt,  has  some  influence  iu 
that  direction.  But  the  variety  of  the  converging 
themes,  and  the  eternal  importance  of  the  great  theme 
in  which  they  all  centre,  should  counteract  that  tend- 
ency to  monotony,  and  should  make  the  minister  as 
much  alive  to  his  subject  at  seventy  as  is  the  lawyer 
of  the  same  age  in  the  advocacy  of  his  client. 

Much  also  may  be  said  as  to  the  influence  of  the 
drafts  made  upon  the  sensibilities  and  feelings  of  min- 
isters. They  are  often  unkindly  treated,  and  by  those 
they  have  most  benefited.  They  are  often  impeded 
in  their  work  by  those  who  promised  better  things. 
There  are  those  who  would  muzzle  the  ox  that  treads 
out  the  corn.  And  then,  often,  on  the  same  day,  they 
have  to  pass  from  the  house  of  mourning  to  that  of 
rejoicing — from  scenes  of  the  deepest  sorrow  to  those 
of  the  most  exuberant  joy  ;  and  they  are  expected  to 
sympathize  alike  in  them  all.  If  great  and  sudden 
changes  in  the  temperature  of  the  atmosphere  are  un- 
friendly to  the  health  of  the  body,  surely  sudden 
changes  like  these  must  be  unfriendly  to  the  health 
of  the  mind.  We  have  often  passed,  within  a  few 
hours,  from  the  most  solemn  funeral  to  the  most  gay 
and  brilliant  wedding,  'and  never  without  a  felt  shock 
to  our  sensibilities.  No  music  could  drown  the  sobs 
of  the  mourners ;  no  hilarity  could  make  us  forget  the 
sorrowing  circle  with  whom  we  parted  on  the  brink 


62  PREACHERS   AND   PREACHING. 

Contrast  of  scenes.  Overworked.  Nettleton. 

of  the  grave  ;  no  joy  of  parents  on  the  happy  nuptials 
of  a  child  could  make  us  forget  the  deep  sorrow  of 
those  other  parents  who  had  just  placed  the  light  of 
their  dwelling  under  the  cold  clod  of  the  valley !  And 
then,  when  their  ministrations  are  unblessed  to  the 
conversion  of  their  hearers — when  they  are  left  to 
scatter  the  good  seed  on  the  thorny  or  barren  ground 
— when  but  few  come  to  the  solemn  feasts,  they  are 
greatly  depressed ;  and  when  the  Spirit  is  poured  out 
— when  the  incrustations  of  worldliness  are  broken 
up,  like  the  ice  in  our  great  rivers  by  the  freshets  of 
spring,  and  sinners  are  flocking  to  Christ  as  clouds, 
and  as  doves  to  their  windows,  then  are  they  over- 
joyed, and  often  overworked  to  such  a  degree  as  to 
enfeeble  them  for  years.  The  great  labors  of  Mr. 
Nettleton  greatly  enfeebled  a  naturally  strong  consti- 
tution, and,  although  he  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-one, 
he  was  an  old  man  for  many  years  previous  to  his  de- 
parture. Indeed,  while  penning  these  lines,  our  eye 
has  been  arrested  by  the  notice  of  the  decease  of  a 
promising  and  lovely  young  minister,  whose  death  is 
attributed  to  his  great  and  exhausting  labors  in  a  re- 
vival of  religion.  These  and  other  drafts  made  upon 
their  sensibilities  and  sympathies  may  account,  in 
some  measure,  for  the  failure  in  the  power  to  interest 
which  we  so  often  witness  in  ministers  who  have 
passed  the  age  of  sixty ;  but,  when  every  allowance 
is  made  for  the  nature  of  their  calling,  there  is  very 
much  to  be  charged  to  the  account  of  personal  habits. 


PREACHERS   AND   PREACHING.  63 

Habits  of  study.  Loyola.  Wesley. 


CHAPTEE  IX. 

Old  Ministers,  continued. — "Want  of  good  Habits  of  Study. — Tempt- 
ations to  neglect  it. — Bad  Habits  of  Study. — Personal  Habits. — 
Examples. — Long  Sermons. 

We  are  yet  discussing  tlie  question  why  old  minis- 
ters are  not  as  acceptable  in  their  profession,  and  as 
much  sought  for,  as  are  other  professional  men  at  the 
same  age.  Having  in  the  previous  chapter  mention- 
ed a  few  causes,  we  now  proceed  to  the  enumeration 
of  others. 

Much  is  to  be  charged  to  the  want  of  good  habits 
of  study.  We  take  it  for  granted  that  there  has  been 
a  suitable  preparatory  education.  The  Scriptures 
give  no  countenance  to  an  uneducated  ministry ;  and 
the  history  of  the  Church  proves  that  it  exerts  but 
little  permanent  influence,  save  where  it  has  been  used 
as  instruments  by  superior  minds,  as  generals  com- 
mand soldiers.  Men  of  warm  piety  and  of  low  educa- 
tion may  do  good  on  a  small  scale  for  a  while,  but 
they  never  can  lay  broad  foundations,  nor  raise  a 
well-proportioned  and  firmly -jointed  superstructure 
of  truth,  or  of  error.  It  required  the  mind  of  a  Loy- 
ola to  construct  the  terrible  system  of  Jesuitism,  be- 
fore whose  power  popes,  princes,  and  nations  have 
trembled ;  and  it  required  the  able  and  ardent  mind 
of  Wesley  to  construct  the  system  of  Methodism. 


64  PREACHEKS  AND  PREACHING. 

An  ignorant  ministry.  Disease  of  the  minisfry. 

They  may  do  good  among  the  lower  classes,  in  com- 
munities where  there  are  educated  men  to  mould  and 
direct  the  public  mind,  and  to  command  the  public 
respect  for  the  Gospel ;  but  the  Church  or  community 
surrendered  to  the  guidance  of  an  ignorant  ministry 
will  soon  relapse  either  into  formalism  on  the  one 
hand,  or  into  fanaticism  on  the  other.  Of  this  every 
branch  of  the  Church  seems  now  satisfied,  as  they  are 
all  putting  forth  their  energies  for  the  raising  up  of  a 
qualified  ministry.  And  this  is  one  of  the  most  hope- 
ful signs  of  the  times  as  to  the  future.  God  no  more 
calls  ignorant  men  into  the  ministry,  than  states  send 
ignorant  men  to  lead  their  armies  or  navies ;  than 
companies  employ  ignorant  engineers  and  captains  to 
guide  their  ocean  steamers  across  the  Atlantic.  Em- 
bassadors for  God,  like  those  of  civil  governments, 
should  understand  their  business.  "  The  foolishness 
of  preaching"  is  one  thing ;  foolish  preaching  is  quite 
another  thing. 

But  a  minister  may  be  fully  prepared  for  his  duties, 
academically  and  theologically,  and  yet,  by  falling 
into  bad  habits  of  study,  he  soon  becomes  far  less  effi- 
cient than  men  of  better  habits,  with  far  less  educa- 
tion. The  mental  disease  of  the  ministry,  in  this  day, 
is  the  neglect  of  study;  and  this  is  generated  by 
causes  seen  of  all  men.  A  young  man  of  fine  promise 
is  settled  as  a  pastor.  Although  his  attainments  are 
but  elementary,  such  are  the  drafts  weekly  made  on 
him,  and  such  are  the  calls  and  the  rewards  of  activity, 
that  books  and  studies  are  soon  neglected.     Applaud- 


PKEACHERS  AND  PKEACHING.        65 

One  of  many.  Pond  running  dry. 

ed  for  his  first  efforts  by  those  who  praise  without 
stint,  because  without  sense,  he  soon  learns  to  lean 
upon  his  genius  and  volubility.  He  has  discovered 
a  way  to  reputation  other  and  shorter  than  the  dull 
and  beaten  one  of  industry.  He  soon  cuts  the  knot 
he  can  not  untie,  and  jumps  the  difidculty  he  can  not 
remove,  and  depends  less  upon  patience  of  investiga- 
tion than  upon  his  intuition  to  comprehend  texts,  and 
doctrines,  and  methods  of  argumentation.  And  soon 
his  mind,  naturally  fertile  and  productive,  becomes  a 
barren.  His  sermons,  like  bullets  cast  in  the  same 
mould,  are  all  alike,  whatever  may  be  the  text.  All 
have  heads,  but  no  points.  All  have  something  old, 
but  nothing  new.  He  has  drawn  from  the  tap,  with- 
out putting  in  at  the  top,  until  the  barrel  is  exhaust- 
ed, and  it  only  gives  forth  an  empty  sound.  That 
was  a  shrewd  observation  of  a  man,  made  at  a  parish 
meeting  convened  for  the  calling  of  a  licentiate  just 
from  the  seminary:  "I  like  the  young  man  very 
much  the  few  times  I  have  heard  him,  but  I  would 
like  the  call  postponed  a  few  weeks  longer,  as  I  fear, 
from  what  I  have  learned  as  to  his  habits,  that  his 
pond  will  run  dry." 

"We  once  knew  a  pastor  of  excellent  talents,  of  un- 
questionable piety,  of  large  common  sense.  He  was, 
besides,  a  man  of  property,  and  could  have  readily 
commanded  a  fine  library.  But  he  neglected  study, 
had  but  few  books,  fell  into  the  habit  of  talking  com- 
monplaces from  the  pulpit,  and  when  he  had  reached 
fifty  years  was  as  dry  as  a  chip,  but  not  as  easily  ig- 


PKEACHEES  AND  PREACHING. 


Not  a  rare  sample.  Studious  habits.  Health  injured. 

nited.  He  had  forgotten  his  academic  studies  to  such 
a  degree  that  he  could  not  read  his  Grreek  Testament. 
His  people  asked  for  meat,  he  gave  them  milk ;  they 
asked  for  instruction,  he  gave  them  long  exhortations, 
making  up  in  quantity  what  they  lacked  in  quality. 
Unprofited  by  his  labors,  his  people  sought  his  dis- 
mission, and  he  was  compelled  to  quit  a  field  in  which 
diligent  habits  of  study  would  have  sustained  him, 
honored  and  useful,  until  the  silver  cord  was  loosed. 
Indeed,  most  of  the  unacceptableness  of  ministers  past 
fifty  with  which  we  are  acquainted  may  be  traced 
directly  to  a  want  of  right  habits  of  study.  Their 
ponds  run  dry. 

And  where  studies  are  not  neglected,  they  are  often 
pursued  in  a  way  greatly  injurious  to  health.  By 
some  the  morning  is  given  to  sleep  and  to  out-door 
duties ;  the  night  to  study.  By  some,  preparation  for 
the  pulpit  is  put  off  to  the  very  close  of  the  week. 
The  pastor  of  a  large  church  recently  told  me  that  he 
wrote  two  sermons  between  Friday  morning  and  Sun- 
day morning.  I  replied  that  he  had  hard  work,  and  his 
people  poor  fare.  To  this  rule  we  have  never  known 
but  one  exception.  Such  must  have  a  very  high  esti- 
mate of  themselves,  or  a  very  low  one  of  their  people. 
The  man  who,  by  six  or  eight  hours  study  a  day,  can 
prepare  one  sermon  a  week,  and  attend  to  his  other 
duties  faithfully,  will  rise  to  the  full  stature  of  a  man. 
The  man  who  can  write  a  sermon  a  day  becomes  a 
mere  extemporaneous  writer,  and  sermons  written  ex- 
temporaneously, and  read,  are  the  poorest  of  all  ser- 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.         67 

The  minister's  fortress.         ~  Social  habits.  Di'.  D. 

mons.  They  fall  as  lightly  upon  an  audience,  and  as 
cold,  as  do  snow-flakes  upon  the  river,  and  make  an 
equally  deep  impression.  The  pulpit  is  the  strong 
fortress  of  the  minister.  He  who  commands  the  at- 
tention and  the  respect  of  his  people  there,  will  wear 
to  the  last.     Good  sense,  well  put,  never  wearies. 

Another  cause  for  the  failure  of  ministers  to  inter- 
est, as  they  are  advancing  in  life,  we  find  in  the  per- 
sonal habits  of  the  ministry.  Some  utterly  fail  on 
the  social  side  of  their  character,  thinking  it  undigni- 
fied to  descend  to  the  ordinary  level  of  life.  Those 
who  imbibe  this  notion  at  twenty-five  are  awfully 
dignified  at  fifty -five,  and  never  collect  around  them 
the  sympathies  of  their  people.  "A  man  that  hath 
friends  must  show  himself  friendly,"  is  a  proverb  that 
has  a  special  application  to  ministers,  and  that  has 
very  much  to  do  with  their  influence  and  usefulness 
down  to  old  age.  The  Eev.  Dr.  B.  was  a  genial, 
warm-hearted,  sympathizing  man ;  his  talents  in  the 
pulpit  were  only  respectable.  The  children  followed 
him  into  the  street  when  he  left  the  house,  and  ran 
to  meet  him  as  he  approached  it.  He  was  venerated 
down  to  eighty.  The  Eev.  Dr.  D.  was  a  fine  scholar, 
a  masterly  preacher,  but  he  had  no  sympathies.  He 
passed  parents  in  the  street  without  recognition ;  he 
knew  not  their  children.  He  was  dismissed.  At 
about  fifty  he  found  himself  without  a  parish ;  and 
while  his  piety,  and  scholarship,  and  ability  were  be- 
yond all  question,  no  congregation  was  found  to  call 
him.     He  was  a  man  of  buckram,  and  people  felt  no 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 


Too  social.  Bad  habits.  Giving  up  study, 


interest  in  him.     With  the  social  qnahties  of  Dr.  B. 
he  would  have  been  pre-eminent  as  a  minister.    Some 
on  the  other  hand,  are  too  social,  and  waste  their  time 
in  a  round  of  social  engagements.     Mr.  E.  was  a  gen 
ius;  he  read  and  wrote  poetry,  and  preached  elo 
quently;  he  was  the  life  of  every  party  he  graced 
with  his  presence.     He  became  wedded,  beyond  di- 
vorce, to  fashionable  company,  sought  popularity,  lost 
his  position,  and  died  under  a  cloud. 

The  Kev. was  a  brilliant  man ;  his  mind, 

as  by  intuition,  grasped  all  knowledge  and  science. 
With  good  habits  and  continued  life,  there  was  no 
height  which  he  might  not  reach  as  a  scholar,  writer, 
or  preacher.  He  slept  till  ten  in  the  morning,  and 
always  sat  up  till  the  noon  of  night,  and  often  until 
the  stars  were  burning  out.  He  chewed  tobacco,  and 
smoked  it  inveterately.  He  became  nervous,  and  ex- 
citable, and  very  irregular.  And  all  his  promises  of 
high  usefulness  failed.  He  died  when  his  sun  was  at 
its  noon,  and  not  too  early. 

The  Eev.  Dr. was  a  most  useful  and  excellent 

pastor.  In  many  things  he  mas  a  model.  He  preach- 
ed with  unction ;  he  presented  the  truth  clearly ;  he 
was  often  called  to  important  posts  in  his  Church. 
Up  to  fifty  he  was  a  pretty  diligent  writer  of  ser- 
mons, when,  feeling  that  his  congregation  had  greatly 
changed  since  his  youth,  and  that  he  could  write  no 
better  sermons  than  he  had  written,  he  ceased  writing, 
and  fell  back  on  his  old  preparations.  The  effect 
upon  him  was  soon  visible.     He  was  rarely  in  his 


PREACHEKS  AND  PREACHING. 


Still  water  stagnates.  James.  Long  sermons. 

study ;  lie  read  but  little ;  his  sermons  looked  yellow, 
and  smelt  musty,  and  lie  lacked  vivacity  in  preach- 
ing them.  His  preaching  became  an  old  story ;  and 
he  was  dismissed.  The  purest  water,  when  prevent- 
ed from  running,  will  stagnate.      The  purest  and 

sharpest  blade,  unless  used,  will  rust.     Dr. has 

been  always  a  close  student,  and  a  most  careful  writer 
of  sermons ;  and  now,  at  seventy -five,  he  is  useful,  and 
popular,  and  beloved.  The  venerable  and  venerated 
James,  of  Birmingham,  now  between  seventy  and 
eighty,  is  nearly  as  popular  in  the  pulpit  as  he  ever 
was,  and  has  just  sent  forth  a  volume  on  "  Christian 
Hope"  from  the  press,  adorned  with  all  the  attractive 
beauties  of  his  more  youthful  works. 

Some  ministers,  as  they  advance  in  life,  greatly 
impair  their  usefulness  by  long  sermons ;  by  minute 
subdivisions;  by  long  prayers;  by  crowding  too 
many  topics  into  the  same  discourse;  by  stickling 
too  strenuously  for  old  things,  in  opposition  to  new 
things,  which  may  be  better ;  by  too  much  overlook- 
ing the  young,  to  whose  good  their  chief  efforts 
should  be  directed. 

"  Some  preachers  cut  the  bread  of  life  so  small, 
The  greater  part  does  through  the  basket  fall ; 
So  full  of  heads  that  nothing  else  there  seems, 
No  room  is  left  for  body,  life,  or  limbs. 
Whate'er  the  text,  the  sermon  still  must  be 
A  little  body  of  divinity. 
Sweet  is  the  Gospel,  and  it  well  beseems 
To  dwell  with  rapture  on  its  glorious  themes  ; 


70  PKEACHERS  AND   PEEACHING. 

Sensible  thoughts  to  be  practiced. 

Yet  some  discourses  would  be  full  as  good 
If  they  were  more  compressed  in  latitude. 
They  lose  in  substance  Avhat  they  gain  in  length, 
As  thread  spun  out  too  fine  impairs  the  strength. 
Some  are  more  garrulous  the  more  they're  lost, 
And  when  they've  least  to  say,  enlarge  the  most.' 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.        71 

Impeding  causes.  Important  questions. 


CHAPTER  X. 

Causes  impeding  ministerial  Usefulness. — Apostolic  Success. — Why 
the  slow  Progress  of  the  Gospel? — The  Way  of  educating  the 
Ministry. — Not  educated  to  be  Preachers. — A  lifeless  Ministry. — 
Tendencies  of  a  permanent  Ministry. — Two  Parishes  contrast- 
ed.— A  living  Ministry  the  great  Need  of  the  Church. 

Are  tliere  not  causes  wMch  impede  the  usefulness 
of  the  ministry?  The  apostles  preached  the  Gospel 
all  over  the  Roman  empire,  and  turned  the  world  up- 
side down.  In  a  few  generations  after  the  ascension 
of  our  Lord,  our  Christianity  went  up  to  the  throne, 
and  put  on  the  purple  of  the  Csesars.  The  age  of  the 
Reformers  was  like  unto  that  of  the  apostles;  the 
Gospel  overthrew  popery  as  rapidly  as  it  had  done 
paganism.  And  with  the  truth  of  Paul  and  of  Peter, 
of  Luther  and  Calvin,  in  our  hands — with  a  minis- 
try as  pious  and  learned  as  any  which  the  Church  has 
ever  seen,  and  far  more  numerous — with  appliances 
to  aid  the  ministry  in  its  efforts  to  disciple  the  nations, 
why  is  not  the  ministry  more  successful  in  the  prose- 
cution of  its  great  work  ?  Why  does  darkness  yet 
cover  so  large  a  portion  of  the  earth?  Why  are 
nominally  Christian  states,  as  Great  Britain,  France, 
Germany,  the  United  States,  to  such  a  degree  as  they 
are,  unchristian?  Why  are  parishes  in  which  the 
Gospel  has  been  preached  for  a  hundred  and  more 


72        PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Training  the  ministry.  Too  scholastic. 

years,  so  little  pervaded  by  its  leaven — so  little  in- 
stinct with  its  spirit  ?  Why  is  the  Christian  Church 
so  little  awake  to  the  great  work  given  it  to  do? 
When  an  army  fails  to  conquer  a  rebel  country,  or  is 
very  slow  in  its  subjugation,  questions  arise  as  to  the 
skill  of  its  officers ;  as  to  their  energy  and  unity,  and 
as  to  the  patriotism  of  the  rank  and  file.  And,  in 
view  of  the  slow  conquest  of  the  world  to  the  sceptre 
of  Christ,  may  we  not  be  permitted  to  inquire  as  to 
the  causes  which  impede  the  usefulness  of  the  minis- 
try? 

One  of  these  causes  we  find  in  the  manner  of  the 
education  of  the  ministry  among  our  leading  denom- 
inations. Is  it  not  less  ministerial  than  scholastic — 
more  adapted  to  make  scholars  than  preachers  ?  The 
great  work  of  the  ministry  is  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel — to  explain  and  enforce  Gospel  principles  be- 
fore promiscuous  audiences,  and  to  persuade  men  to 
accept  them  from  the  heart.  Of  course,  the  more 
popular  the  preacher,  other  things  being  equal,  the 
greater  will  be  his  success.  Whitefield  was  not  a 
learned  theologian,  but  in  point  of  usefulness  he  was 
the  man  of  his  day.  Is  not  the  training  oi  preachers 
too  much  neglected  in  our  theological  schools?  Is 
not  mere  scholasticism  in  these  schools  the  first,  sec- 
ond, and  third  thing,  and  a  persuasive  oratory  left 
very  much  to  grow  up  of  itself?  Is  this  right,  espe- 
cially in  a  country  like  ours,  where,  perhaps  more 
than  in  any  other,  the  public  mind  is  swayed  by  pop- 
ular addresses,  and  where  it  is  so  difficult  to  arrest 


PKEACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  73 

Persuasive  oratory.  Spurgeon.  Old  fogy. 

public  attention  by  religious  considerations  because 
of  the  multiplicity  of  subjects  that  occupy  it  ?  How- 
ever learned  and  pious  a  man  may  be,  if  he  is  a 
proser,  the  plausible  and  popular  will  carry  away  the 
people  from  him.  A  man  may  be  a  Porson  in  learn- 
ing, a  Locke  in  mental  philosophy,  a  Calvin  in  theo- 
logical acumen,  but,  imless  he  has  a  persuasive  oratory 
— unless  he  can  write  well,  and  impressively  pro- 
nounce what  he  writes,  his  usefulness  as  a  preacher 
will  be  limited.  How  many  ministers  there  are  who 
can  read,  in  the  original,  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments with  fluency — who  can  scan  Yirgil  and  Homer 
with  all  ease,  and  yet  who  can  not  read  a  chapter  of 
the  Bible  or  a  hymn  in  public  so  as  to  bring  out  their 
sense  or  meaning.  Spurgeon  has  already  secured  a 
world-wide  fame  simply  by  his  attractive  oratory; 
and  yet  we  have  seen  a  minister  who  has  forgotten 
more  than  Spurgeon  ever  knew,  and  whose  analytic 
power  as  a  theologian  is  universally  acknowledged, 
put  an  audience  to  sleep  by  a  most  profound  and 
evangelical  sermon.  ''  Who  is  that  old  fogy  you  had 
this  morning,  domine?"  said  a  New  York  merchant 
to  his  pastor,  after  hearing  a  most  learned  sermon. 

''  Oh,"  said  the  pastor,  *'  that  is  the  great  Doctor !" 

The  pleasant  reply  of  the  merchant  was,  "  He  may  be 
a  great  man,  but  he  is  no  great  preacher ;  do  not  soon 
afflict  us  again  with  him,  domine." 

Our  theological  schools  are  a  great  blessing  to  the 
Church,  but  in  them  the  education  of  preachers  is 
most  sadly  neglected.     True,  a  man  must  be  bora  an 

D 


74        PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Education  can  do  much.  Foster.  Lifeless  ministry. 

orator,  as  a  poet  or  painter,  as  no  education  can  im- 
part the  gift  where  God  has  withheld  it ;  yet  educa- 
tion can  do  much  to  give  emphasis,  taste,  and  im- 
pressiveness  to  public  services.  The  number  of  peo- 
ple is  increasing  who  desire  to  see  a  man  of  taste  in 
the  pulpit ;  and,  unless  their  taste  is  gratified,  they 
will  stay  away  from  the  house  of  God.  For  the  mere 
want  of  a  good  and  impressive  manner,  there  are 
many  able  ministers  who  exert  but  very  little  influ- 
ence. John  Foster  was  one  of  the  men  of  his  age ; 
his  Essays  will  ever  live ;  but  in  the  pulpit  he  had 
little  power.  He  was  admired  as  a  writer,  while  he 
was  shunned  as  a  preacher.  There  should  be  a  model 
preacher  connected  with  all  our  theological  semina- 
ries who  would  excite  in  their  students  a  desire  to  be 
preachers,  strong  as  that  which  other  professors  ex- 
cite to  be  profound  scholars  or  theologians. 

Another  of  these  causes  we  find  in  a  lifeless  minis- 
try; that  is,  in  a  ministry  lacking  spirit  and  enter- 
prise. We  have  often  balanced  the  advantages  and 
disadvantages  of  a  changing  ministry,  like  that  of 
the  Methodists,  with  those  of  a  permanent  pastorate. 
There  are  reasons  for  each,  but  those  for  the  latter 
we  regard  as  much  the  strongest.  There  is  a  pastoral 
power,  which  is  a  real  power  in  the  Church  of  God, 
which  a  changing  ministry  can  never  possess  or  exer- 
cise. A  new  doctor  every  two  years  would  not  augur 
well  for  the  health  or  continued  life  of  the  patient, 
nor  for  the  sense  of  the  family.  A  change  may  be 
made  occasionally  for  the  better;  but  the  physician 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.        75 

Permanent  ministry.  Its  tendency.  Some  questions, 

who  best  understands  the  constitutions  and  tendencies 
of  a  family  is  the  best  able  to  prescribe  for  them.  So 
we  reason  as  to  the  Church.  Other  things  being 
equal,  a  permanent  ministry  is  the  best  for  all  the  in- 
terests of  the  Church  of  God. 

Yet  is  there  a  tendency  in  a  permanent  ministry  to 
lifelessness.  They  preach  from  year  to  year  to  the 
same  people.  There  is  but  little  new  to  stimulate. 
They  go  round  and  round  the  same  beaten  track. 
Duties  are  performed  in  a  perfunctory  way ;  and  soon 
"  like  priest,  like  people."  All  things  are  kept  alive, 
but  nothing  flourishes.  They  are  dead  while  they 
live.  Are  there  no  well-educated  ministers,  and  pious, 
whose  Sabbath  services  are  sensible,  but  cold — whose 
Sabbath-schools  are  without  interest — whose  lectures 
and  prayer-meetings  are  but  thinly  attended — who 
have  neither  weekly  lecture  nor  prayer-meeting — 
who  have  no  monthly  concert — whose  people  do  lit- 
tle or  nothing  for  the  conversion  of  the  world?  Are 
there  no  ministers  who  discourage  collections  for  ob- 
jects of  benevolence,  fearing  that  they  might  interfere 
with  the  payment  of  their  own  salary  ?  Where  such 
a  ministry  exists,  how  can  it  be  extensively  useful? 
As  well  might  we  expect  vigorous  vegetation  under 
a  snowbank  which  the  suns  of  summer  could  not 
thaw  out.  A  living  ministry  is  to  all  the  high  inter- 
ests of  a  parish  what  the  sun,  the  rain,  the  air,  the 
dew,  are  to  the  earth,  causing  it  to  bring  forth,  and  to 
bud,  and  to  bear  fruit;  a  lifeless  ministry  is  like  a 
mountain  of  ice,  which  freezes  the  earth  and  the  air, 


76  PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

A  contrast.  '  God's  best  blessing.  The  world's  response. 

and  permits  only  a  sickly  existence  to  all  within  the 
reach  of  its  chilling  influence.  In  illustration  of  this, 
two  parishes  now  rise  up  before  us :  the  one  is  large, 
rich,  with  a  rich  pastor,  who  is  able,  pious,  but  narrow 
in  his  views,  and  no  way  prodigal  of  his  property. 
He  was  educated  in  the  past  age,  to  which  his  sym- 
pathies cling.  The  other  is  small,  comparatively  poor, 
with  a  pastor  alive  to  every  interest  of  his  people  and 
of  the  world.  And  the  difference  between  the  two 
is  like  that  between  two  farms  in  July — the  one  suf- 
fering from  protracted  drought,  the  other  blessed  with 
the  former  and  latter  rain  in  their  season.  The  fleece 
of  the  one  is  constantly  wet ;  of  the  other,  as  con- 
stantly dry.  The  greatest  blessing  of  Grod  to  a  church 
— to  the  Church,  is  a  living  ministry ;  and  because  it  is 
not  more  alive  unto  God,  it  is  that  its  usefulness  is  so 
circumscribed.  And  in  this  day  of  action  and  enter- 
prise, when  the  walls  which  have  shut  out  the  Gospel 
from  heathen  nations  have  fallen  flat  as  those  of  Jeri- 
cho before  the  men  of  Joshua,  it  is  truly  lamentable 
to  look  over  the  Church,  and  to  see  the  degree  to 
which  so  many  congregations  are  under  the  care  of 
a  lifeless  ministry.  As  a  rule,  just  in  the  proportion 
that  ministers  are  alive  to  their  duty,  are  their  people 
alive  unto  God.  We  must  do  the  world  justice;  it 
has  ever  responded  to  the  call  of  a  truly  great  and 
consecrated  minister  of  Christ.  It  did  so  to  that  of 
Paul,  of  Luther,  Calvin,  Knox — to  that  of  Whitefield 
and  Wesley— and  recently  to  that  of  Chalmers,  whose 
single  voice  shook  Scotland  from  the  Tweed  to  the 


PREACHERS  AND   PREACHING.  77 

The  world's  great  need. 

Orkneys,  and  aroused  the  entire  Protestant  Churcli 
to  higher  efforts  and  sacrifices  for  the  conversion  of 
the  world.  A  living  ministry  is  now  the  world's 
great  need. 


78  PEEACHERS  AND   PREACHING. 

Ministers  but  men.  Jealousies.  Have  ever  existed. 


CHAPTEK  XI. 

Jealousies  in  the  Ministry  impede  its  Influence. — Worse  than  the 
Oppositions  of  Romanism  and  Infidelity. — Bad  Temper  of  Minis- 
ters.— Examples. 

The  best  of  men  are  men  at  best ;  nor  are  minis- 
ters free  from  any  thing  common  to  humanity.  The 
heavenly  treasure  is  committed  to  earthen  vessels; 
and  that  the  Church  lives,  notwithstanding  the  imper- 
fections of  its  ministers  and  members,  is  a  proof  that 
it  is  divinely  instituted.  Jealousies  and  envyings  ex- 
ist in  families — among  men  of  business — among  poli- 
ticians, lawyers,  physicians ;  among  men  of  science : 
there  is  no  mystic  Eden  on  earth  from  which  they 
are  excluded.  As  the  serpent  entered  Paradise,  so 
these  find  access  to  all  classes  and  communities,  and 
may  be  discovered  every  where  by  their  slimy  trail ; 
and,  although  most  out  of  place  among  the  ministers 
of  Christ,  yet  are  they  there  also.  They  led  to  the 
first  murder.  They  infused  wormwood  into  the  cup 
of  some  of  the  patriarchs.  Moses,  Aaron,  and  Miriam 
were  divided  by  them.  They  turned  the  swords  of 
the  tribes  of  Israel  against  one  another.  They  often 
caused  the  holy  mountain,  crowned  with  the  magnifi- 
cent and  holy  temple,  to  flow  down  with  blood. 
Priests  and  Levites  they  converted  into  deadly  ene- 
mies.    They  crept  into  the  little  family  of  Jesus. 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 


Their  effects.  Yet  existing.  Altar  against  altar. 

Tliey  divided  Paul  and  Barnabas.  They  distracted 
the  churches  founded  bj  the  apostles.  After  the 
fires  of  persecution  were  extinguished  by  the  blood 
of  the  martyrs,  and  outward  attacks  on  our  Christian- 
ity had  ceased,  they  converted  the  Church  into  a  great 
battle-field ;  and,  in  comparison  with  the  war  of  here- 
sies, sects,  and  leaders  that  ensued,  the  persecution  of 
the  apostate  Julian  was  almost  a  rest.  It  was  then 
that  good  men  turned,  with  a  joyous  heart,  from  the 
quarrels  of  sects  and  heresies  to  mountain  sohtudes 
and  nocturnal  devotions.  They  separated  reformers 
from  one  another,  and  divided  the  Protestant  hosts, 
when  they  should  have  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder 
against  the  common  enemy.  Indeed,  they  seem  to 
have  been  the  chief  passions  upon  which  Satan  has 
played  through  all  the  ages  for  the  purpose  of  sepa- 
rating those  who  should  be  chief  friends,  and  of  turn- 
ing the  arms  of  those  who  should  be  united  in  the 
destruction  of  his  empire  to  the  destruction  of  one 
another.  And,  notwithstanding  the  warning  history 
of  the  past,  and  the  inspired  injunction,  "If  ye  bite 
and  devour  one  another,  take  heed  that  ye  be  not 
consumed  one  of  another,  "yet  do  these  jealousies  ex- 
ist among  ministers,  greatly  to  their  own  discomfort 
as  men,  and  to  the  circumscribing  of  their  influence. 
How  often  is  altar  set  up  against  altar  in  the  same 
town;  and  do  ministers  set  themselves  to  work  to 
pull  each  other  down!  How  often  do  they  look 
upon  each  other's  success,  not  with  joy,  but  with 
jealousy!     And  this  not  merely  among  ministers  of 


80  PREACHERS  AND   PREACHING. 

Jealousies  to  be  abated.  "Worse  than  infidelity. 

different  names,  but  often  among  ministers  of  the 
same  Churcli,  and  preaching  the  same  doctrines! 
Taken  all  in  all,  I  believe  that  the  ministers  of  the 
Gospel,  as  a  class,  are  the  best  men  on  earth;  but, 
with  less  envy  and  jealousy  of  one  another,  they 
would  be  vastly  improved,  and  their  usefulness  vastly 
extended.  How  Satan  rejoices  when  he  sees  ministers 
abusing  one  another  in  public  assemblies,  or  seeking 
to  fasten  charges  of  falsehood,  or  duplicity,  or  of  bad 
motives  upon  one  another  through  the  press!  We 
are  not  forbidden  to  manifest  a  due  zeal  for  our  own 
church  or  for  our  peculiar  opinions ;  there  are  a  great 
many  good  men  who  may  not  be  men  to  our  taste, 
and  for  whom  we  can  not  indulge  the  love  of  com- 
placency;  but  yet  envyings  and  jealousies  should  be 
far  from  us ;  and  we  should  rejoice  in  the  success  of 
all  who  win  souls  to  Christ,  although  not  to  our  fold. 
I  believe  that  the  envyings  and  jealousies  of  ministers 
form  a  greater  obstacle  to  their  usefulness,  and  to  the 
rapid  extension  of  the  Church  of  God,  than  all  the 
attacks  of  infidelity,  than  all  the  oppositions  of  popery, 
than  all  the  gainsayings  of  those  that  oppose  them- 
selves combined.  If  the  Psalmist  could  say,  "Be- 
hold how  good  and  how  pleasant  a  thing  it  is  for 
brethren  to  dwell  together  in  unity,"  may  we  not  say, 
how  evil  and  unpleasant  a  thing  it  is  for  brethren  to 
dwell  together  in  discord  ?  Much  has  been  done  with- 
in the  last  few  months  to  smooth  down  the  asperities 
of  sects,  and  to  bring  ministers  into  co-operation,  but 
much  yet  remains  to  be  done  before  it  can  be  said  of 


PREACHERS  AND   PREACHING.  81 

Bad  tempers.  Differently  made.  John  and  Peter. 


the  ministers  in  all  our  cities,  and  towns,  and  Villages, 
"Behold  how  these  brethren  love  one  another!" 

Another  of  these  causes  may  be  found  in  the  bad 
tempers  often  manifested.  We  must  expect  the  dif- 
ference of  temperament  among  ministers  that  exists 
among  other  men ;  as  grace,  while  it  controls  and  di- 
rects, does  not  eradicate  the  natural  dispositions.  Men 
after  conversion  are  what  they  were  before,  save  that 
love  to  God  has  become  the  governing  principle  of 
the  entire  conduct.  John  was  naturally  gentle,  and 
Peter  naturally  impulsive ;  and  these  were  their  char- 
acteristics when  apostles  of  the  Lord.  And  John, 
.with  half  the  grace  of  Peter,  would  appear  far  more 
pious.  One  is  made  for  the  days  of  peace,  another 
for  those  of  war ;  one  is  raised  up  to  storm  and  sub- 
due the  strongholds  of  error,  another  to  collect  and 
instruct  the  conquered.  Luther  was  among  the  pa- 
pists as  was  Samson  among  the  Philistines,  but  it  re- 
quired a  Melancthon  and  a  Calvin  to  succeed  him; 
his  power  was  in  pulling  down,  theirs  in  building  up. 
And  while  men  are  no  more  made  to  feel  alike  than 
to  look  alike,  still  should  the  minister  be  "of  good 
behavior,"  "no  striker,"  "not  a  brawler,"  "he  must 
have  a  good  report  of  them  who  are  without,"  "he 
must  not  strive, but  be  gentle  toward  all  men,"  "pa- 
tient," "in  meekness  instructing  those  that  oppose 
themselves."  There  are  times  when  they  must,  with- 
out flinching,  contend  for  the  faith,  when  they  must 
call  "  damnable  delusions"  by  their  right  names ;  but 
they  must  speak  the  truth  in  love,  in  order  to  show 
D2 


82  PKEACHERS  AND   PREACHING. 

A  contrast.  Bitterness  aud  mildness.  Drunk  with  passion. 

that  tliey  are  influenced  by  the  spirit  of  Christ  in  all 
that  they  do. 

In  the  early  days  of  our  religious  life  we  knew  two 
venerable  ministers :  the  one  was  mild  as  a  summer's 
morning,  and  as  attractive  ;  the  other  was  as  boister- 
ous as  a  stormy  winter's  day,  and  as  repellent  and 
chilling.  And  they  were  equally  good  men.  In  the 
days  of  heated  controversy,  now  happily  past,  and,  as 
we  hope,  never  to  return,  there  were  two  excellent 
pastors,  who  were  always  on  opposite  sides  wherever 
they  met  in  church  courts.  The  one  was  logical  and 
powerful,  and,  in  the  main,  right  as  to  principle,  but 
bitter  as  gall;  when  convinced  by  his  arguments,  it 
was  difficult  to  vote  with  him,  lest  you  should  be  con- 
sidered as  approving  his  spirit.  The  other  was  mild, 
clear,  persuasive,  but  sophistical  and  cunning,  and 
usually  on  the  wrong  side ;  and,  when  convinced  of 
the  lameness  of  his  arguments,  it  was  difficult  to  vote 
against  him,  lest  you  should  be  considered  as  disap- 
proving his  spirit.  Indeed,  by  many,  the  truth  of 
the  one  was  rejected  as  error,  and  the  error  of  the 
other  was  received  as  truth.  ISTor  will  a  century  of 
years  erase  the  impressions  made  by  those  two  men. 
The  evils  resulting  will  remain  long  after  they  have 
gone  to  their  rest,  long  after  their  divisions  have  been 
healed  by  one  touch  of  that  Hand  which  was  pierced 
for  them  both. 

A  bad  temper  is  a  bad  thing  any  where,  but  it  is 
especially  out  of  place  in  the  ministry.  A  minister 
that  gets  drunk  with  passion  does  often  more  evil 


PREACHERS  AND   PREACHING.  83 

Minister  of  the  letter.  Example.  Persequor. 

than  one  that  gets  drunk  on  wine.  A  man  of  com- 
manding talents,  with  high  passions,  and  a  malignant 
temper,  is  no  blessing  to  any  people.  He  may  be 
pious,  in  a  modified  sense,  so  as  to  be  saved  by  fire ; 
but,  if  a  minister,  he  is  a  minister,  not  of  the  spirit, 

but  of  the  letter  of  our  religion.     The  Rev.  Dr. , 

now  dead,  was  a  man  of  fine  talents,  very  excitable, 
very  ambitious,  very  sensitive  to  opposition  from  any 
quarter,  very  ready  in  debate,  very  sarcastic,  and  pos- 
sessing wonderful  power  of  abuse.  He  had  many 
friends,  but  many  more  enemies ;  he  construed  oppo- 
sition to  his  plans  into  opposition  to  himself.  His 
dislikes  grew  into  hatred,  and  his  hatred  became  set- 
tled and  malignant.  He  gave  rise  to  divisions  which 
will  not  soon  be  healed,  and  to  alienations  which  can 
not  be  cured ;  he  brought  over  his  Church  suspicions 
from  without,  which,  like  a  mist  from  the  ocean,  have 
enveloped  it,  and  has  absolutely  circumscribed  the  in- 
fluence of  all  adopting  his  principles,  although  entire- 
ly disapproving  his  spirit. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Persequor  was  a  man  of  good  talents, 
of  ardent  temper,  of  self-esteem,  lacking  in  judgment, 
who  rarely  stepped  backward,  capable  of  excitement 
to  any  degree,  and  who  knew  neither  friend  nor  foe 
in  carrying  out  his  views.  He  was  as  frequently 
wrong  as  right,  but,  in  his  own  eyes,  he  was  rarely 
in  the  wrong ;  he  annoyed  his  brethren,  he  annoyed 
his  people;  he  split  his  Church;  he  was  a  comfort 
to  nobody.  His  friends  mourned  over  him;  his  op- 
ponents bitterly  hated  him ;  and  no  wonder,  for  he 


84  PREACHERS  AND   PREACHING. 

The  result.  Example.  Common  sense. 

could  drop  upon  them  words  that  burned ;  and  when 
at  the  very  noon  of  his  strength  and  powers,  he 
was  in  conflict  with  his  brethren  instead  of  preach- 
ing Christ,  and  with  a  reputation  for  bad  temper 
and  unfairness  which  made  the  smallest  congrega- 
tions fear  to  employ  him.  With  the  ordinary  tem- 
per of  man  he  might  have  been  an  extensively  useful 
minister  to  the  close  of  his  life.  Yery  many  of  the 
difficulties  of  ministers  with  which  I  have  been  ac- 
quainted, which  have  imbittered  their  life,  and  sent 
them  out  wandering  as  shepherds  without  sheep,  have 
arisen  from  a  bad  temper,  often  excited  by  causes 
which  might  be  removed  had  the  passions  been  kept 
under  control.  A  young  minister  was  called  to  the 
charge  of  a  parish  with  but  one  vote  against  him. 
Shortly  after  being  inducted  into  his  new  charge,  he 
received  a  call  from  this  voter  in  the  negative.  After 
some  formal  preliminaries,  this  negative  voter  com- 
menced, like  an  honest  man,  giving  his  reasons  for 
voting  against  him.  He  finally  summed  up  all  in 
one  brief  sentence,  "I  do  not  like  your  preaching, 
sir."  "Well,"  said  the  pastor,  "there  you  and  I 
agree ;  I  think  no  better  of  my  preaching  than  you 
do ;  I  pray  and  hope  it  may  be  much  better."  The 
man  was  disarmed ;  he  knew  not  what  to  reply.  He 
soon  retired,  considerably  cooled,  if  not  mortified. 
The  preaching  of  the  young  minister  improved  aston- 
ishingly in  his  estimation,  and  for  years  afterward 
that  man  and  his  family  were  his  ardent  admirers. 
In  dealing  with  unreasonable  people,  a  little  common 
sense  is  a  most  efficient  thing. 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  85 

Prudence.  What  it  is.  The  serpent  and  dove. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Prudence. — Not  fostered  by  our  Plans  of  Study. — The  Lack  of  it, 
how  shown. — Examples  showing  the  Effects  of  Prudence  and  of 
the  Want  of  it. — Prudence  not  a  shining  but  a  very  useful  Grace. 

There  is  a  low  cunning  and  a  Jesuitical  spirit  of 
management  which  are  sometimes  called  prudence, 
against  which  we  would  most  emphatically  protest. 
They  are  neither  manly  nor  Christian.  They  are 
based  on  feebleness  of  will  and  intense  selfishness. 
The  character  for  prudence  which  they  obtain  is  but 
temporary;  the  cunning  manager  soon  manages  to 
alienate  from  him  general  confidence.  The  man  of 
expediencies  is  not  trusted  in  emergencies.  The  pru- 
dence which  we  would  inculcate,  and  the  lack  of  which 
is  so  detrimental  to  ministerial  influence,  is  as  consist- 
ent with  the  most  open  frankness  as  it  is  opposed  to 
cunning  and  management.  It  enables  so  wisely  to 
manage  the  concerns  of  a  church  as  to  give  to  all  per- 
sons and  things  their  place — ^to  have  every  thing  done 
decently  and  in  order — and  so  to  obtain  a  good  report 
of  them  who  are  without,  as  to  leave  those  of  the  con- 
trary part  no  evil  thing  to  say  against  us.  The  pru- 
dence we  would  inculcate  is  that  peculiar  character- 
istic made  up  of  the  wisdom  of  the  serpent  and  the 
harmlessness  of  the  dove. 

Unless  a  gift  of  nature,  as  it  often  is,  our  secluded 


PKEACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 


Not  learned.  Imprudence.  Its  evils. 

course  of  preparation  for  the  ministry  is  not  strongly 
calculated  to  foster  prudence.  ISTor  can  it  be  learned 
as  an  art,  or  taught  as  a  science.  Some  show  the  lack 
of  it  in  their  habits  of  conversation.  They  talk  about 
persons  and  things  as  if  words  had  no  weight.  They 
reprove  as  if  sharpness  was  an  evidence  of  sincerity. 
They  talk  to  sinners  as  if  fire,  not  love,  melted  the 
heart.  To  prove  their  independence,  they  must  have 
extreme  opinions  on  all  subjects,  and  have  a  tilt  with 
every  wind-mill  that  turns.  They  step  aside  from  their 
own  sphere  to  study  and  settle  all  difficulties ;  they 
begin  as  peace-makers,  and  end  as  partisans.  They 
take  some  side  of  every  theory  that  is  broached,  and 
must  have  something  to  say  about  every  bubble 
thrown  up  to  the  surface  of  the  great  fermenting  vat 
of  society.  Unless  so,  they  are  not  faithful  watchmen, 
nor  up  to  the  spirit  of  the  times !  Feeling  that  hu- 
man responsibility  has  no  limits,  and  that  they  are  re- 
sponsible for  all  the  evils  under  the  sun,  they  must 
expose  and  oppose  all  forms  of  evil,  wherever  exist- 
ing, with  the  same  zeal  as  if  it  were  working  ruin 
within  the  bounds  of  their  own  parish.  Taking  up 
opinions  without  reason,  they  lay  them  down  without 
care.  Opposition  to  their  views  they  interpret  into 
opposition  to  themselves.  If  any  thing  is  said  against 
them,  the  person  must  be  disciplined.  And  thus,  in 
a  hundred  ways,  the  finest  talents,  the  richest  acquisi- 
tions of  knowledge,  and  the  most  unquestioned  piety, 
are  often  neutralized  for  the  want  of  a  little  prudence. 
Prudence  is  to  a  minister  what  the  helm  is  to  a  ship ; 


PREACHEES  AND   PREACHING.  87 

Kev.  A.  B.  Lacked  prudence.  The  result. 

without  it,  however  richly  laden,  the  high  wind  may 
dash  it  upon  the  rocks,  or  swamp  it  in  the  quicksands. 
"  I,  wisdom,  dwell  with  prudence."  The  want  of  it 
throws  a  thick  cloud  over  the  brightest  and  highest 
acquisitions  ;  the  possession  of  it  causes  the  weakest 
gifts  to  shine  with  the  steady  lustre  of  a  fixed  star. 

The  Kev.  A.  B.  was  a  man  of  genius.  He  attracted 
admiring  crowds.  His  mind  was  stored  with  knowl- 
edge which  was  not  well  arranged  or  connected.  But 
things  old  and  new  were  there,  and  were  placed  some- 
times in  fantastic  relations.  His  heart  was  warm  and 
his  piety  most  sincere.  He  had  all  the  elements  need- 
ful to  greatness  but  one.  He  lacked  prudence.  He 
thought  he  knew  more  than  he  did,  and  that  he  was 
able  to  do  more  than  he  could.  In  theology  he  be- 
came erratic.  His  hands  were  upon  every  reforma- 
tory plow,  caring  not  enough  as  to  where  it  made  its 
furrows.  The  wildest  schemes  of  reform  found  him 
in  their  front  ranks.  He  was  on  all  platforms  on  all 
occasions.  If  he  could  not  instruct,  he  could  amuse ; 
if  he  could  not  convince  you  he  was  right,  he  could 
make  you  laugh.  But  his  opinions  had  no  root ;  they 
were  ever  changing.  And  for  the  same  reason  they 
had  no  weight.  He  went  from  church  to  church — 
from  place  to  place — from  this  thing  to  that.  And  at 
sixty  years,  when  other  men  of  equal  talent  are  a  part 
and  parcel  of  the  history  of  the  Church,  and  are  pil- 
lars in  the  city  or  town  of  their  residence,  he  was  with- 
out charge,  without  property,  most  kindly  regarded 
by  all  that  ever  knew  him,  but  unfit  for  any  position 


88  PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Eev,  C  D,  His  prudence.  Its  effects. 

of  trust  or  influence,  and  simply  for  the  want  of  pru- 
dence, a  virtue  which,  he  often  stigmatized  as  beneath 
his  regard. 

The  Rev.  C.  D.  was  a  contemporary  of  his,  and  a 
minister  in  the  same  city.  He  was  heavily  moulded 
in  mind  and  body.  He  was  sensible  but  slow.  In 
the  pulpit  he  was  instructive,  but  dull  and  drawhng. 
He  formed  his  opinions  slowly,  but  truly  and  strong- 
ly, and  always  before  he  uttered  them,  and  not  after- 
ward. He  kept  at  his  work,  and  always  at  it.  "When 
others  were  gazing  on  A.  B.  as  a  comet,  he  was  left 
to  shine  alone  as  a  fixed  star,  without  many  to  look 
upon  him.  He  absorbed  confidence  steadily.  The 
church  and  the  city  sought  his  advice.  He  was  sought 
for  places  of  trust.  His  word  was  law  among  his  jdco- 
ple.  He  was  loved  by  the  aged,  he  was  reverenced 
by  the  young.  What  Homer  said  of  Ulysses  might 
be  said  of  him :  he  was 

"For  prudent  counsel  like  the  gods  renown'd." 

And  when  his  sun  set,  it  was  amid  the  lamenta- 
tions of  the  city  from  which  its  light  was  withdrawn. 
But,  although  it  has  set,  long  will  its  thjs  brighten 
the  horizon,  and  gild  the  high  places  of  Zion.  And 
yet  he  only  excelled  A.  B.  in  prudence.  In  all  the 
higher  qualities  of  mind  and  heart  he  was  decidedly 
and  confessedly  his  inferior. 

How  many  of  the  di£S.culties  with  which  ministers 
have  to  contend,  and  which  hinder  their  influence, 
arise  from  the  want  of  prudence.  A  minister  once 
undertook  to  discipline  a  spinster  who  took  a  dislike 


PEEACHEKS  AND  PREACHING. 


Beaten  by  a  spinster.  Cases  of  imprudence. 

to  him,  and  said  some  bitter  tilings  against  him,  which, 
if  unnoticed,  would  be  placed  to  the  account  of  her  pe- 
culiar situation.  He  failed  in  his  effort,  as  must  every 
man  who  contends  with  a  single  woman,  and  divided 
the  Church,  and  had  to  retire  ingloriously  from  the 
contest  with  a^damaged  character,  and  feeling  that  he 
was  beaten  by  a  spinster. 

Two  of&cers  in  a  church  quarreled  as  to  some  ac- 
counts. Instead  of  leaving  the  quarrel  to  be  settled 
by  law,  or  by  reference  to  business  men,  the  minister 
interfered.  He  was  confident  and  headstrong,  and 
where  others  doubted,  he  was  certain.  He  soon  be- 
came a  heated  partisan,  and  on  the  wrong  side.  He 
split  the  Church,  and  subjected  himself  to  the  censures 
of  his  brethren,  and  secured  a  character  which  made 
other  churches  timid  as  to  seeking  his  services. 

A  young  minister,  who  thought  quite  enough  of 
himself,  rebuked  before  the  congregation  an  old  el- 
der who  was  nodding  under  a  summer  evening  lec- 
ture. His  eldership  left  him ;  the  impertinent  rebuke 
was  the  key-note  to  his  character — a  character  which 
it  was  impossible  to  improve  or  to  love. 

A  minister  of  fine  parts  was  settled,  against  the  vio- 
lent opposition  of  several  leading  families,  over  a  large 
congregation.  He  entered  quietly  on  his  work.  He 
was  especially  polite  to  those  who  opposed  him.  He 
soon  disarmed  all  opposition.  His  opponents  became 
his  warmest  friends ;  he  rose  to  the  first  place  in  their 
affections ;  he  became  eminent  and  successful  as  a  pas- 
tor, and  one  of  the  brightest  ornaments  of  the  Ameri- 
can pulpit. 


90  PKEACHEES  AND   PEEACHING. 

A  useful  gift.  Profitable  to  direct. 

Prudence  is  not  a  very  shining,  but  it  is  a  very  at- 
tractive ministerial  gift,  and  a  very  useful  one.  It  can 
reprove  kindly ;  it  says  the  rigTit  thing  at  the  right 
time ;  it  leads  to  judicious  courses ;  it  improves  what 
is  admitted,  so  as  to  remove  objections  to  what  is 
questioned ;  it  vindicates  the  right  without  assailing 
the  wrong ;  it  expels  the  evil  by  introducing  the  good. 
By  filling  the  bushel  with  wheat,  it  leaves  no  room 
for  the  chaff.  This  is  not  the  sacrifice  of  principle, 
but  the  right  use  of  it.  It  is  not  the  cowardice,  but 
the  meekness  of  wisdom — the  wisdom  which  is  justi- 
fied of  her  children.  Without  it  a  minister  is  far  more 
repellent  than  attractive,  and  as  a  fisherman  he  will 
do  far  more  to  drive  away  than  to  catch  the  fishes ; 
or,  changing  the  figure,  like  the  clumsy  sportsman,  he 
will  do  far  more  to  scatter  than  to  bag  the  birds. 

For  the  want  of  ordinary  prudence,  many  a  gifted 
and  pious  minister  has  greatly  obstructed  his  influ- 
ence and  interrupted  the  harmony  of  the  churches. 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.         91 

Sects  every  where.  Ground  for  it. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Sectarianism. — Ground  for  Diversity  of  Opinion. — Has  its  Limits. — 
Its  great  Evils  when  excessive. — Examples. — Ministers  of  a  Sect 
not  Ministers  of  Christ. — There  should  be  no  Ministers  of  narrow 
Views. 

We  have  no  sympathy  whatever  with  the  cry 
raised  against  sectarianism,  and  by  none  louder  than 
those  who  are  the  most  exclusive  of  sectarists.  There 
were  sects  among  the  Jews — sects  soon  appeared 
among  the  early  Christians ;  they  are  to  be  found  in 
ardent  conflict  in  "the  bosom  of  Unity;"  they  exist 
among  Protestants ;  they  are  to  be  found  among  phi- 
losophers, statesmen,  politicians ;  they  are  to  be  found 
where  the  mind  is  free  to  think,  and  man  is  free  to 
act.  There  are  counter  currents  in  the  air — the  ocean. 
There  are  antagonistic  muscles  crowding  the  human 
system.  And  in  the  heart,  the  mind,  the  tastes  of 
man,  there  is  a  foundation  laid  for  diversity  of  opin- 
ions ;  and  so  there  is  in  the  Bible  itself  The  Bible 
is  our  only  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice ;  but 
what  man,  or  body  of  men,  has  Heaven  authorized  to 
interpret  the  Bible  for  all  others  of  the  race  ?  None 
pretend  to  such  authority  but  impostors,  madmen,  or 
idiots.  We  might  as  well  cry  out  against  the  counter 
currents  of  the  air  and  ocean  as  against  the  variety  of 
opinions  on  religious  topics ;  and  those  who  cry  loud- 


92  PREACHERS  AND   PREACHING. 

Has  its  limits.  The  rebuke.  Liberality. 

est  are  those  wlio  are  very  deeply  affected  because  all 
tlie  world  can  not  believe  with.  them. 

But  sectarianism  has  its  limits,  within  which  it  may 
be  very  useful,  and  beyond  which  it  may  be  very  in- 
jurious to  all  the  high  interests  of  the  Church  of 
Grod.  In  the  days  of  the  Circumcision  there  were 
many  sects,  but  they  were  all  Jews ;  they  all  wor- 
shiped God,  and  believed  in  Moses,  and  bowed  to- 
gether in  the  same  temple  on  Moriah.  Why  should 
it  be  different  in  the  days  of  Christ  ?  It  is  not  differ- 
ent, save  where  sectarianism  has  passed  beyond  its 
proper  limits.  And  where  it  does  so,  how  admirable 
the  rebuke  we  have  for  it  from  the  lips  of  the  Savior 
himself.  On  a  certain  occasion  John  said  to  him: 
"  Master,  we  saw  one  casting  out  devils  in  thy  name, 
and  we  forbade  him,  because  he  followed  not  with 
us."  And  Jesus  said  unto  him,  "  Forbid  him  not,  for 
he  that  is  not  against  us  is  for  us."  If  this  divine 
liberality  and  charity  received  more  attention,  how 
different  from  its  present  would  be  the  state  of  the 
Church !  There  would  be  none  to  confine  the  flock 
of  God  to  the  few  sheep  in  their  fold,  nor  the  Church 
of  God  to  those  called  by  their  name,  nor  the  grace 
of  God  to  ordinances  administered  by  their  authority; 
nor  would  we  be  inclined  to  "forbid"  those  who  do 
not  labor  to  do  good  in  the  most  approved  way,  nor 
yet  in  the  most  scriptural  way.  We  would  rejoice 
when  good  is  done  in  any  way  by  any  body.  When 
Christ  is  preached  and  souls  are  saved,  we  should  be 
thankful.     It  is  of  importance  that  all  things  should 


PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHmG.  93 

The  evUs  of  sectarianism.  Common  ground. 

be  done  decently  and  in  order ;  that  there  should  be 
a  regular  induction  into  the  ministry ;  but  we  should 
be  very  careful  lest,  in  our  efforts  to  maintain  facti- 
tious rules,  we  should  prevent  the  spread  of  the  Gros- 
pel  and  the  salvation  of  souls. 

The  evils  of  a  too  ardent  sectarianism  are  very 
great,  and  may  be  seen  in  nearly  every  community 
of  five  thousand  inhabitants  in  this  land,  and  are 
mostly  traceable  to  ministers  themselves.  One  man 
believes  in  ''  apostolical  succession,"  and  in  the  need 
of  episcopal  ordination  to  a  regular  ministry.  Let  him 
so  believe,  and  let  him  make  his  belief  the  law  of  his 
life.  But  why  seek  to  interfere  with  others  whose 
credulity  is  not  as  large  as  his,  when  doing  the  work 
of  the  Lord  ?  One  believes  in  government  by  bish- 
ops, another  by  presbytery,  another  by  the  Church. 
To  their  common  master  they  have  each  to  account, 
and  why  seek  to  devour  one  another  ?  They  are  each 
fully  persuaded  in  their  own  minds,  and  why  not  ex- 
ercise mutual  charity  ?  One  believes  in  baptism  by 
immersion,  and  only  of  adult  believers ;  another  be- 
lieves in  infant  baptism,  and  by  the  application  of  wa- 
ter. Both  believe  in  the  thing  signified — the  need  of 
spiritual  cleansing  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  Each  fully  be- 
lieves he  is  right,  and  why  not  exercise  mutual  chari- 
ty ?  If,  as  we  have  already  argued,  the  ministry  which 
is  authorized  by  one  branch  of  the  Church  should  be 
received  in  every  branch  of  the  Church,  so  we  think 
the  member  who  is  received  to  one  branch  of  the 
Church  should  be  received  to  everv  branch  of  the 


94  PEEACHEES  AND   PEEACHING. 

All  should  receive  whom  Christ  received.  Examples. 

Churcli.  The  person  received  by  Christ,  however 
baptized,  is  good  enough  for  a  seat  at  any  commnnion 
table.  "  He  that  beheveth  on  the  Son  shall  see  life ;" 
and  to  exclude  one  from  the  communion  table  in  the 
possession  of  a  title,  through  grace,  to  eternal  life,  be- 
cause not  conforming  to  our  particular  views,  is  far 
less  Christian  than  it  is  fanatical.  And  these  views 
we  hold  as  to  the  too  ardent  spirit  of  sectarianism,  in 
whatever  way  it  demonstrates  itself.  But  we  will  il- 
lustrate what  we  mean. 

In  the  town  of there  are  two  Presbyterian 

churches — Old  School  and  New.  They  are  only  sep- 
arated in  name  and  by  ecclesiastical  lines,  and  yet  they 
are  hostile  and  jealous,  and  hold  to  the  law  of  non-in- 
tercourse.    There  came  into  the  town  of ,  in  the 

midst  of  a  revival  of  religion,  a  Baptist  minister,  flu- 
ent, and  full  of  zeal.  He  distributed,  thick  as  autumn 
leaves,  tracts  on  immersion,  and  preached  about  it, 
and  from  house  to  house.  Attention  was  drawn  from 
the  salvation  of  the  soul  to  a  mere  rite  of  the  Church, 
and  the  work  ceased  with  comparatively  few  ingath- 
erings. In  the  town  of there  was  but  one  Metho- 
dist family.  The  minister  of  the  old  and  only  church 
in  the  town  was  able,  pious,  and  greatly  blessed  in  his 
ministry ;  and  the  surrounding  country  was  canvass- 
ed to  raise  money  to  erect  another  church  there ;  and 
when  erected,  all  possible  means  were  used  to  draw 
away  people  from  the  old  church,  a  vine  which  the 
Lord  had  abundantly  blessed.  A  man  is  not  the 
richer  by  taking  money  from  one  pocket  and  putting 


PREACHERS  AND   PREACHING.  95 

The  Puseyite  Bigotry.  Its  effects. 

it  ill  another.  The  Church  is  not  extended  by  drain- 
ing one  to  fill  another.  This  is  simply  robbing  Peter 
to  pay  Panl. 

An  Episcopal  minister  of  the  Pusey  school  went  to 
the  town  of .  He  soon  quarreled  with  his  Low- 
Church  brother.  He  treated  with  disdain  all  non- 
Episcopal  people.  He  publicly  attacked  the  character 
of  all  other  ministers ;  he  gave  over  to  uncovenanted 
mercies  all  other  people,  and  sought,  in  all  possible 
ways,  to  decoy  from  other  churches.  Finding  his 
success  not  equal  to  his  zeal,  he  discovered  a  flaw  in 
his  commission,  and  toppled  over  into  Eomanism.  He 
ended  where  he  ought  to  have  begun.  He  was  nev- 
er any  thing  but  a  sectarian  of  the  Pusey  stamp.  Nor 
do  we  see  how  bigotry  can  consist  with  true  piety — 
with  love  to  God  and  man.  It  is  the  spirit  of  perse- 
cution. As  a  rule,  the  more  bigotry  the  less  piety. 
As  the  one  rises  the  other  declines.  "When  bigotry 
is  at  blood-heat,  piety  is  at  zero ;  and  the  contrary  is 
equally  true.  We  once  knew  a  minister  who  gave 
all  but  his  own  people,  in  the  most  generous  manner, 
over  to  uncovenanted  mercies.  ISTone  could  be  more 
exact  in  his  ritual  observances,  nor  more  laudatory 
of  them.  And  yet  he  would  go  from  a  debauch  to 
the  pulpit,  and  from  the  communion  table  to  a  de- 
bauch. Bigotry  and  true  Christian  love  never  lodge 
together. 

ISTow  these  are  specimens  of  what  we  consider  a  too 
ardent  spirit  of  sectarianism.  Every  man  has  not  only 
a  right  to  love  his  own  Church  better  than  any  other. 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 


Consistency.  Men  of  a  creed.  Enlarged  minds, 

but  he  is  bound  to  do  so  by  the  law  of  consistency. 
But  when  a  minister  of  Christ  sinks  himself  into  the 
minister  of  a  sect — when  his  peculiarities  rise  to  high- 
er importance  than  the  great  common  principles  of 
our  holy  religion — when  he  aims  more  at  the  demo- 
lition of  a  rival  Church  than  of  the  bulwarks  of  Sa- 
tan— when,  like  the  soldier  at  the  battle  of  Preston 
Pans,  he  "goes  for  Hamilton  regiment,  right  or  wrong," 
then  is  he  far  less  of  a  Christian  than  of  a  sectarian, 
and  more  the  preacher  of  a  creed  than  of  Christ,  who 
is  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness  to  every  one 
that  believes.  It  is  a  pity  that  men  of  narrow  views 
and  sympathies  should  ever  enter  the  ministry ;  that 
ever  any  man  should  be  found  there  who  could  not 
open  heaven,  and  his  heart,  and  his  pulpit,  and  his 
communion  table  to  all  who  loved  Christ.  It  is  a 
pity  that  all  papists  were  not  Paschals — that  all  Epis- 
copalians were  not  Newtons,  and  Scotts,  and  Milnors 
— that  all  Baptists  were  not  Halls — that  all  Presby- 
terians were  not  Chalmers,  and  Alexanders,  and  Da- 
vies — that  all  Methodists  were  not  Summerfields. 
These  were  all  men  whose  religion  was  not  that  of 
a  sect — whose  love  for  Christ  submerged  all  other 
loves.  If  such  men  were  always  in  the  ministry,  the 
hammers  of  sects  would  never  be  heard  ringing  on 
each  other's  gates ;  they  would  be  all  ringing  on  the 
gates  of  the  common  enemy ;  and  the  vast,  vast  evils 
of  an  over-ardent  sectarianism  which  now  covers  the 
land,  to  the  shame  of  the  ministry,  and  to  the  injury 
of  the  Church,  would  never  have  existed.     The  pow- 


PEEACHERS  AND   PREACHING.  97 

Co-operation. 

er  of  the  Church  in  the  world  would  be  increased 
a  thousand-fold  if  ministers  and  churches,  without 
surrendering  a  single  great  principle,  would  love 
and  co-operate  as  brethren.  And  why  should  they 
not? 

E 


98  PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Preaching.  Has  always  been.  Its  effect? 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Preaching  an  Institution  of  Eeligion. — What  it  has  done. — Preach- 
ing the  great  Duty  of  the  Ministry. — Not  to  be  put  aside  by  Pray- 
ing.— Itinerant  Preaching. — Matter  and  Manner  of  Preaching. — 
Methods  of  Exposition. — Erskine. — Barrow. — Blair. — Examples. 
Davies. — Quaint  Subjects. — Dr.  Baker. — Summerfield. 

Preaching  has  ever  been  an  institution  of  the 
religion  of  God.  Enoch,  the  seventh  from  Adam, 
prophesied.  Noah  was  a  preacher  of  righteousness. 
Moses,  Aaron,  and  Joshua  often  preached  to  the  as- 
sembled Israelites.  Ezra  preached  to  a  vast  multi- 
tude, and  with  great  effect.  Preaching  and  exhorta- 
tion were  parts  of  the  worship  of  the  synagogue. 
John  the  Baptist  preached  with  great  power,  as  did 
Christ  and  his  ajDOStles.  And  preaching  is  the  great 
institution  of  Christianity.  It  was  by  preaching  that 
the  early  ministers  of  Christianity  turned  the  world 
upside  down,  and  dispersed  the  assembled  deities  of 
Olympus;  that  the  Eeformers  shook  to  its  founda- 
tions the  throne  of  the  Man  of  Sin,  and  gave  the 
Gospel  anew  to  the  world ;  and  it  is  by  preaching, 
more  than  by  all  other  causes  combined,  that  civiliza- 
tion and  Christianity  are  now  so  rapidly  extending 
over  the  world.  And  as  Christ  preached,  sometimes 
from  the  deck  of  a  ship,  sometimes  from  the  side  of  a 
mountain,  sometimes  in  a  private  house,  sometimes  in 


PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 


Preacliing  every  where.  Itinerant  preaching. 

a  synagogue,  sometimes  by  a  well's  side,  sometimes 
in  the  Temple,  so  must  liis  ministers  embrace  every 
opportunity  to  teach  men,  if  they  would  preach  the 
Gospel  to  every  creature.  In  the  papal  Church  "the 
mass"  is  the  important  service ;  in  some  Protestant 
churches  the  pulpit  is  put  aside  to  give  prominence 
to  the  altar,  and  "prayers"  form  the  prominent  serv- 
ice ;  but  how  rarely  is  prayer  joined  with  preaching 
in  the  New  Testament.  Prayer,  and  singing,  and 
reading  the  Word  have  their  place  in  regularly  settled 
churches,  but  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  is  the  great 
duty  of  the  ministry.  And  so  heavily  did  this  duty 
lie  on  the  heart  of  the  early  Church,  that  even  laics, 
as  they  were  called,  were  found  proclaiming  salvation 
through  Christ.  Origen  thus  preached.  It  is  a  great 
innovation  upon  the  teaching  and  conduct  of  Christ 
and  his  apostles  to  elevate  jDraying  above  preaching 
in  the  duties  of  the  sanctuary.  It  is  to  preaching  we 
owe  the  origin,  the  continuance,  the  spread  of  Chris- 
tianity; and  it  is  to  itinerant  preaching,  much  as  it 
may  be  contemned  by  those  who  worship  in  cathe- 
drals, that  we  owe  the  conversion  of  the  Koman  world 
from  paganism,  and  the  rescue  of  our  Christianity 
from  a  chilling  formalism  in  these  latter  days. 

But  what  is  preaching  ?  As  to  its  matter^  it  is  the 
true  exposition  of  the  Word  of  God  in  public,  and  its 
application  to  the  hearers  of  it ;  and  as  to  the  manner^ 
it  is  the  so  presenting  the  Word  of  God  as  that  it  shall 
be  understood  and  felt  by  those  to  whom  it  is  ad- 
dressed.    These  topics,  upon  which  essays  and  vol- 


100  PEEACHEES  AND  PEEACHING. 

What  is  preaching  ?  Various  methods. 

umes  have  been  written,  we  must  dismiss  with,  a  few 
remarks. 

As  to  the  exposition  of  the  Word  of  God,  every 
variety  of  manner  has  obtained.  The  expository 
method  has  prevailed  in  Scotland,  and  among  the 
Presbyterian  family  of  churches.  The  didactic  and 
essay  form  has  been  most  in  favor  in  England.  The 
hortatory  has  most  obtained  among  the  French 
churches.  The  sermons  of  some  were  nearly  all 
heads.  I  have  just  opened  a  volume  of  Erskine's, 
and  the  first  sermon  upon  which  my  eye  fell  has 
sixty-seven  heads  marked  with  figures.  The  next 
sermon,  a  much  shorter  one,  has  fifty.  Amid  such  a 
forest  of  heads  an  ordinary  hearer  would  lose  his  way. 
The  sermons  of  others  are  mere  scholastic  essays,  like 
those  of  Barrow  and  Tillotson.  Those  of  others  are 
rhetorical  disquisitions,  like  those  of  Blair ;  correct, 
but  cold — like  a  clear,  wintry  night,  sparkling,  but 
freezing.  Those  of  others  are  elaborately  doctrinal, 
and  bear  the  same  relation  to  the  Gospel  that  the 
human  skeleton  does  to  a  living  man ;  while  others 
are  as  elaborately  metaphysical,  and  as  incomprehens- 
ible, by  an  ordinary  hearer,  as  is  Johnson's  definition 
of  '-net- work."  And  these  are  but  the  tj^pes  of 
preachers  of  our  own  times.  Years  ago  we  sat  in  a 
cold  church  when  the  thermometer  was  below  zero, 
and  when  to  heat  the  house,  save  by  a  foot-stove, 
would  be  as  bad  as  heterodoxy,  and  had  to  listen  for 
two  hours  to  a  sermon  on  the  text,  "  Ye  will  not  come 
unto  me  that  ye  may  have  life.''     We  can  hardly 


PKEACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  101 

Metaphysical  preaching.  Blending. 

think  of  the  sermon  now  without  a  cold  chill.  A 
doctor  of  divinity,  of  world-wide  fame,  now  in  heaven, 
once  preached  in  our  pulpit.  His  sermon  was  very 
able,  but  very  metaphysical.  The  first  installment  he 
gave  in  the  morning,  occupying  an  hour  and  a  half, 
and  promised  the  remainder  in  the  afternoon.  Scarce- 
ly a  third  of  the  congregation  returned  to  hear  him. 
And  yet  a  more  able  discussion  we  never  heard  in 
the  pulpit;  but  it  was  metaphysico-doctrinal  to  the 
highest  degree.  We  then  felt,  and  still  feel,  that  such 
sermons  before  popular  audiences  are  like  self-right- 
eousness— the  more,  the  worse.  They  are  based  on 
an  utter  misapprehension  of  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel.  Mr.  Gr.  was  a  truly  pious  man,  warm,  cdrdial, 
large-hearted,  ready  in  utterance,  lively  in  imagina- 
tion, with  little  reading,  less  logic,  and  any  amount  of 
anecdote.  He  was  great  in  exhortation,  and  never 
rose  above  it.  No  matter  as  to  the  text,  it  was  always 
and  only  a  pretext  to  a  warm,  disjointed  exhortation. 
And  a  few  of  them  sufficed  for  the  same  people.  *  It 
is  when  the  expository,  the  didactic,  and  the  horta- 
tory are  sweetly  blended  in  the  same  sermon,  that  the 
great  ends  of  preaching  are  attained,  and  that  the 
preacher,  from  year  to  year,  can  edify  the  same  people. 
Such  a  preacher  as  was  Samuel  Davies  is  always  fresh 
as  an  open  fountain.  Of  preaching  such  as  his  a 
people  never  grow  weary.  The  meaning  of  the  text 
is  brought  out  in  exposition;  the  importance  of  the 
principle  asserted  is  made  apparent  in  the  didactic; 
and  the  application  to  the  hearer  is  fervently  made  in 


102  PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Davies.  Alexander.  Clap-traps. 

the  exhortatory.  And  we  need  only  refer  for  illus- 
tration to  his  sermon  on  "The  Compassion  of  Christ 
to  Weak  Believers,"  from  the  text,  "A  bruised  reed 
shall  he  not  break,  and  the  smoking  flax  shall  he  not 
quench."  Another  such  preacher  was  the  late  Dr. 
Alexander;  and  we  refer  for  illustration  to  his  ser- 
mon on  "  The  Way  in  which  God  leads  his  People." 
That  sermon  was  preached  on  a  communion  Sabbath 
in  a  church  in  ISTew  Jersey,  when  there  was  a  large 
addition  of  communicants,  forty-two  years  ago,  and 
there  are  those  who  talk  about  it  to  the  present  time. 
To  make  men  see  and^eeZ  the  truth  is  the  great  ob- 
ject of  preaching ;  the  Spirit  of  God  alone  can  make 
them  receive  the  truth  in  the  love  of  it.  Mere  ab- 
stract preaching  can  not  accomplish  these  ends ;  nor 
can  mere  rhetorical  preaching,  where  the  idea  is  lost 
in  the  words;  nor  can  mere  hortatory  preaching, 
which  is  the  mere  firing  of  a  musket  with  enough  of 
powder,  but  no  ball;  nor  can  preaching  on  quaint 
subjects,  like  "  the  Marriage  of  Adam,"  "  the  Funeral 
Sermon  of  Adam,"  "  the  Unfailing  Shoes,"  the  word 
"And,"  "the  Eagle  stirring  up  her  Nest,"  "Kot  so," 
"  the  Druids,"  "  Heaven  a  Country,"  "  the  Strong  and 
the  Weak,"  "  the  Young  Folks  at  Home,"  "  Spiritual 
Humbugs,"  "  Traffic  in  Slaves,"  "  But."  These,  and 
all  such,  are  pulpit  clap-traps,  which  may  attract  the 
vulgar,  but  which  repel  the  intelligent,  and  which 
will  soon  place  those  who  resort  to  them  in  the  same 
category  with  the  vendors  of  quack  medicines.  The 
higher  a  man  seeks  to  rise  on  waxen  wings  like  these, 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  103 

Dr.  Baker.  Suramei-field.  Impressions. 

the  greater  will  be  his  fall.  The  simple  truth,  simply 
presented,  will  do  what  no  clap-trap  ever  has  or  can. 
"We  heard  the  late  Eev.  Dr.  Daniel  Baker  once  preach 
a  sermon  on  the  text,  "  And  the  door  was  shut." 
There  was  not  a  thought  in  it  'beyond  the  comprehen- 
sion of  a  child.  We  can  never  forget  it.  We  heard 
Summeriield  make  one  of  his  first  addresses,  if  not  the 
first  he  ever  made  in  this  country.  He  represented 
the  Bible  as  the  vine  of  Joseph  which  ran  over  the 
wall ;  and  he  traced  the  vine  running  over  sectarian, 
tribe,  and  national  walls — over  mountains,  rivers, 
lakes,  and  oceans — over  all  the  barriers  which  sepa- 
rated men  and  nations  from  one  another,  until  it  bore 
fruit  on  all  sides  of  all  walls  for  the  healing  of  the 
nations.  Nearly  forty  years  have  since  passed  away, 
and  the  figure  of  Summerfield  is  yet  before  us,  in  the 
beauty  of  meekness,  and  with  the  simplicity  of  elo- 
quence, tracing  the  vine  of  Joseph  as  it  spread  over 
the  walls.  We  even  now  see  his  long  white  finger 
marking  its  undulating  line. 

The  impressions  made  by  the  truth  are  abiding ; 
all  others,  like  the  early  cloud,  soon  pass  away. 
Hence,  the  great  object  of  preaching,  as  to  the  matter 
of  it,  is  to  make  men  to  see  the  truth,  and  in  its  appli- 
cation  to  themselves. 


104       PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 


Character  essential  to  the  preacher. 


CHAPTER  XY. 

Manner  in  the  Pulpit. — The  Character  of  the  Preacher. — His  Sym- 
pathy with  his  Subject. — The  Eloquence  of  Art  and  of  the  Heart. 
— An  Example. — Mr.  Willard. — Eloquence  of  Manner. — Dr.  Ma- 
son.— Dr.  Grifiin. — Preaching  in  A^'ignon,  atEome. — Earnestness 
a  high  Talent. — Should  be  cultivated. 

The  character  of  the  j)reaclier  has  very  much  to  do 
with  the  effect  of  the  truth  he  proclaims.  If  his  moral 
habits  are  bad,  or  even  questioned,  his  preaching,  even 
if  he  spoke  with  the  tongue  of  men  and  of  angels, 
would  be  useless — ^yes,  far  worse  than  useless.  There 
have  been  ministers  in  the  Church  whose  bad  influ- 
ence survives  the  lapse  of  a  hundred  years ;  and  there 
are  now  living  ministers,  of  learning  and  eloquence, 
whose  preaching,  even  of  the  truth,  is  less  efficient  on 
the  side  of  Christianity  than  of  infidelity.  People 
will  make  allowance  for  a  dull  man  if  they  feel  he  is 
sincere,  but  no  eloquence  will  open  their  hearts  to  the 
reception  of  the  truth  from  the  lips  of  a  man  whose 
character  they  believe  to  be  bad.  Bad  men,  whose 
character  may  not  be  known,  may  do  good,  but  when 
their  character  is  revealed,  and  placed  under  a  thick 
cloud,  their  usefulness  is  at  an  and.  Bad  as  men  are, 
they  care  not  going  to  hear  Satan  reproving  sin. 

And  so  the  sympathy  which  a  preacher  manifests 
in  his  subject,  has  much  to  do  with  the  impression  it 


PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  105 

Eloquence  of  art  and  heart. 

makes.  It  is  feeling  that  gives  words  and  thoughts 
their  power.  You  may  lay  a  hammer  on  a  plate  of 
glass  without  impressing  it;  but  strike  it  with  the 
hammer,  wielded  with  all  the  power  of  your  right 
hand,  and  you  shatter  it  into  fragments.  So  truth 
simply  laid  on  the  minds  and  consciences  of  men 
scarcely  impresses ;  it  is  when  uttered  with  all  the 
zeal  of  a  heart  feeling  its  power  and  importance  that 
it  becomes  "like  a  hammer  that  breaketh  the  rock 
in  pieces."  An  unconverted  man,  or  one  with  a  luke- 
warm manner,  may  preach  very  eloquent  and  elabo- 
rate sermons  on  orthodox  and  evangelical  doctrines, 
but  they  are  to  the  sermons  of  men  thoroughly  imbued 
with  the  spirit  of  Christ  as  "  are  the  coruscations  of 
the  Aurora  Borealis  to  the  warm  and  vivifying  rays 
of  the  sun."  Ministers  should  never  forget  that  the 
fountain  of  eloquence  is  the  heart.  The  eloquence 
of  art  is  to  the  eloquence  of  the  heart  as  is  the  cold 
marble  statue  of  Webster  to  Webster  himself  Blair 
and  Walker  were  colleague  pastors  of  the  High- 
Church,  Edinburgh,  and  to  this  day  the  people  of  that 
city  have  not  ceased  contrasting  the  cold  correctness 
of  the  one  with  the  fervent  evangelism  of  the  other. 
Thirty  years  ago  there  were  two  ministers  in  New 
York,  the  one  of  whom  was  cold,  but  scholarly  and 
logical ;  the  other  was  eloquent,  and  pointed,  and  fer- 
vent. We  took  with  us  a  friend,  then  skeptical,  and 
since  known  to  the  world  of  letters,  to  hear  them  on 
the  same  day.  On  talking  over  the  sermons  in  the 
evening,  he  made  this  remark,  which  we  have  never 
E2 


106       PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Manner.  A  sad  fall. 

forgotten :  "  The  preacher  in  the  morning  sought  to 
lay  the  truth  on  me  ;  the  preacher  this  afternoon  strove 
to  drive  it  into  me.     I  hke  him  a  great  deal  the  best." 

The  effectiveness  of  preaching  is  far  more  depend- 
ent on  the  manner  than  is  generally  admitted.     The 

Eev. was  a  man  of  good  education — of  good 

sense — of  sincere  piety — ^but  he  was  made  of  lead. 
He  was  always  late  in  the  pnlpit,  and  then  waited  for 
the  people  to  collect.  He  always  read,  and  if  he 
made  any  mistake,  he  would  go  back  and  correct  it. 
He  was  never  known  to  perpetrate  a  figure  of  speech 
or  a  gesture.  He  could  preach  on  Christ's  death  for 
sinners  with  as  little  emotion  as  on  the  being  of  God. 
No  matter  what  was  the  theme,  his  feelings  never 
rose  above  the  freezing  point.  He  was  known  at  the 
funeral  of  a  child  partly  to  read  a  sermon  from  the 
top  of  a  pile  of  hats  built  up  for  the  occasion ;  in  the 
midst  of  the  reading  the  pile  fell,  and  the  sermon  fell 
with  them,  and  the  service  was  brought  suddenly  to 
a  close.  In  a  few  years  most  of  his  people  withdrew 
to  another  congregation,  and  were  pleased  with  the 
ministry  of  a  man,  ten  of  whose  sermons  would  not 
contain  as  much  sense  as  that  sermon  which  fell  with 
the  pile  of  hats,  and  from  whose  fall  the  good  man 
never  recovered. 

We  find  the  following  incident  going  the  round  of 
the  papers  in  reference  to  the  Eev.  Samuel  "Willard, 
one  of  the  early  ministers  of  Boston.  It  is  so  much 
to  our  present  purpose  that  we  quote  it  as  we  find  it : 

"Mr.  Willard  possessed  an  agreeable  delivery  and 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  107 

Mr.  Willard  and  his  son-in-law. 

harmonious  voice,  and,  as  a  natural  consequence,  was 
generally  admired.  His  son-in-law,  the  minister  of 
Eastham,  occasionally  preached  for  him,  whose  ser- 
mons were  excellent,  but  much  injured  by  the  bad- 
ness of  manner.  Having  on  one  occasion  preached 
one  of  his  best  discourses  to  the  congregation  of  his 
father-in-law,  in  his  usual  unhappy  manner,  it  excited 
great  dissatisfaction.  Several  persons  waited  on  Mr. 
Willard,  and  begged  the  gentleman  might  not  be  in- 
vited into  the  pulpit  again.  To  this  request  Mr. 
Willard  made  no  reply ;  but  he  desired  his  son-in- 
law  to  lend  him  the  discourse,  which  being  left  with 
him,  he  delivered  it,  without  any  alteration,  to  his  peo- 
ple a  few  weeks  after.  The  hearers  were  delighted, 
and  requested  a  copy  for  the  press.  See  the  differ- 
ence, said  they,  between  yourself  and  son-in-law.  You 
have  preached  a  sermon  on  the  same  text  which  he 
did,  but  his  was  intolerable,  and  yours  was  excel- 
lent." 

While  the  preaching  of  our  educated  ministry  in 
this  country,  in  point  of  matter,  is  equal,  if  not  supe- 
rior, to  that  of  any  other  country,  yet  it  will  be  readi- 
ly confessed,  by  those  capable  of  forming  a  compari- 
son, that  the  manner  of  the  evangelical  ministry  in 
Europe  is  far  more  lively  and  impressive  than  is  that 
of  ours.  How  soon  you  exhaust  the  list  of  those  fa- 
mous in  the  American  pulpit  for  eloquence  of  man- 
ner— that  is,  for  intense  earnestness — among  the  edu- 
cated and  prominent  clergy.  Dr.  Eomeyn  was  very 
earnest,  so  occasionally  was  Dr.  Mason.     Dr.  Griffin 


108       PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Dr.  Griffin.  Yew  such.  Monks. 

was  greatly  so  on  great  occasions.  We  remember 
some  of  his  sermons ;  and  wlietlier  lie  was  in  the 
body  or  out  of  the  body  when  delivering  them,  it 
seemed  difficult  to  tell.  Even  now  he  rises  up  be- 
fore us  in  the  pulpit,  his  huge  frame  moving,  his  rud- 
dy countenance  flaming  with  emotion,  as  he  thus  con- 
cluded his  sermon  on  Noah's  Ark :  "  Oh,  sinner,  if 
you  believe  God  in  season,  now  is  your  time  to  avoid 
the  terrors  of  that  day.  Seize  the  ark,  and  make 
sure  of  Ararat.  By  all  the  solemnities  of  that  com- 
ing scene,  I  entreat,  I  beseech  you  to  hasten  into  the 
ark.  Come,  for  the  floods  are  rising,  or  the  next  hour 
may  be  too  late."  And  as  his  voice,  pitched  to  the 
highest  key  of  earnestness,  died  into  silence,  and  as 
he  slowly  dropped  his  hands  upon  the  Bible,  as  he 
was  wont,  it  would  seem  as  if  every  soul  would  plunge 
through  the  rising  waters  for  the  ark !  But  how  few 
such,  in  comparison  with  the  many  who  tamely  read 
or  speak  important  truths,  leaving  it,  with  less  faith 
than  carelessness,  to  the  Spirit  to  apply  it ! 

But  this  fashionable  didactic  manner — this  tame, 
unimpressive  solemnity,  exists  not  to  the  same  extent 
in  other  lands.  The  monks  and  priests  of  Eome, 
when  they  preach  at  all,  do  so  with  intense  earnest- 
ness, and  often  with  a  crucifix  or  some  other  relic  in 
their  hands,  the  more  to  excite  the  feelings  of  the 
people.  We  heard  a  priest  preach  in  the  cathedral 
at  Avignon,  hard  by  the  old  palace  of  the  Popes,  to 
a  company  of  market-women  in  the  early  morning, 
and  he  pounded  the  pulpit  with  the  earnestness  of  a 


PEEACHERS   AND   PREACHING.  109 

Preaching  in  San  Carlo.  Tameness. 

blacksmith  welding  two  pieces  of  hot  iron.  So  we 
heard  a  monk  preach  in  the  San  Carlo  in  Eome  on  a 
Sabbath  evening  to  a  crowd  of  children;  and  he 
shouted  like  a  tempest,  and  tossed  his  arms  about 
with  extreme  earnestness.  He  riveted  the  attention 
of  all,  although  he  was  only  filling  up  the  time  spent 
in  waiting  for  a  fat  cardinal  to  intone  the  service! 
When  the  person  who  heralded  the  pufiing  cardinal 
appeared,  the  monk  stopped  in  a  moment,  and,  appar- 
ently, in  the  middle  of  a  sentence.  In  those  coun- 
tries the  mass  is  the  rule,  preaching  is  the  exception ; 
but  never  did  we  hear  a  priest  preach  without  intense 
earnestness.  Indeed,  nothing  less  would  suit  the  gen- 
ius of  the  people,  as  they  are  hot  in  their  tempera- 
ments, rapid  in  their  conceptions,  and  of  vigorous 
imaginations,  and  a  cold,  sensible  address  of  some  of 
our  tame  doctors,  though  profound,  would  have  no 
more  effect  upon  them  than  an  icicle  upon  gunpow- 
der. Nor  has  it  much  effect  any  where.  Tameness 
in  the  pulpit  is  submitted  to,  not  as  a  matter  of  choice, 
but  of  necessity.  Earnestness  is  itself  a  high  talent, 
and  is  attractive  in  every  department  of  life.  In  the 
pulpit  it  is  a  means  of  grace.  It  reached  the  heart 
of  even  the  cold,  calculating  Franklin,  and  wrung 
from  the  lips  of  Agrippa,  "  Almost  thou  persuadest 
me  to  be  a  Christian."  The  great  power  of  the  late 
Dr.  John  Brackenridge  was  the  power  of  public  im- 
pression, in  which  he  has  not  been  excelled  in  our  age. 
We  once  sat  by  the  side  of  a  most  logical  and  didactic 
Kew  England  minister  while  Dr.  B.  was  making  an 


110       PREACHERS  AND   PREACHING. 

Dr.  John  Brackenridge. 

address  in  the  old  Cliatliam  Theatre  in  New  York, 
and  when  he  sat  down,  our  friend,  turning  to  us,  said, 
"I  would  give  a  thousand  dollars  to  be  fifteen  min- 
utes in  his  shoes."  He  swayed  every  mmd  there  at 
his  will,  and  made  impressions  yet  vivid,  at  the  dis- 
tance of  a  quarter  of  a  century,  on  the  minds  of  those 
that  heard  him. 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  Ill 

The  Irish  assembly.  A  stirring  address. 


CHAPTEE  XYI. 

The  Irish  General  Assembly. — An  Addi-ess  there. — Dr.  Chalmers' 
great  Address. — ^Whitefield. — Wesley. — Their  Power. — ^The  Age 
in  which  they  rose. — Their  Influence. — They  were  in  earnest. 

I  WAS  present  in  tlie  General  Assembly  of  Ireland 
in  the  year  1851,  and  when  the  deputation  from  Scot- 
land, headed  by  Dr.  DufiP,  addressed  that  venerable 
body.  I  sat  by  the  side  of  a  member  of  the  deputa- 
tion when  one  of  his  brethren  made  an  address  in  a 
manner  the  most  excited.  He  was  a  very  large  man ; 
and  when  he  let  out  his  voice  to  its  fall  pitch,  and 
suited  the  action  to  the  word  by  a  heavy  stamp  with 
his  foot  upon  the  platform,  it  would  seem  as  if  the 
building  and  audience  trembled  together.  "When, 
dripping  with  perspiration,  he  concluded,  I  asked  my 
neighbor  whether  that  was  a  fair  specimen  of  the  man- 
ner of  their  Scottish  ministers.  He  replied  that  Dr. 
Chalmers  went  often  as  far  beyond  that  as  that  went 
beyond  ordinary  tameness ;  and  then  gave  me  an  ac- 
count of  a  speech  delivered  by  him  in  the  General 
Assembly  of  Scotland  during  the  heated  controversies 
which  led  to  the  disruption.  It  is,  doubtless,  the  same 
speech  to  which  his  eloquent  son-in-law  and  biogra- 
pher, Dr.  Hannah,  alludes  in  the  114th  page  of  the  4th 
volume  of  his  life.  The  decisions  of  the  courts  of  law 
were  pronounced  against  the  party  headed  by  Chal- 


112  PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Great  speech  of  Chalmers. 

mers,  and  the  ablest  men  of  the  Moderate  party  were 
there  to  sustain  them.  Scotland,  from  the  Tweed  to 
the  Orkneys,  was  excited.  All  eyes  were  turned  to- 
ward the  coming  Assembly.  It  met,  and  the  day  for 
the  great  discussion  was  fixed.  It  arrived,  and  the 
big  heart  of  Scotland  was  beating  its  strongest  pul- 
sations. The  debate  opened  at  12  at  noon,  in  a  house 
densely  packed.  The  Moderates,  clerical  and  lay, 
presented  their  case  logically  and  powerfully.  When 
they  concluded,  who  was  to  reply  ?  Every  eye  turn- 
ed to  Chalmers.  As  if  in  prayer  for  divine  aid,  he 
bowed  for  a  few  moments  in  his  seat,  during  which 
the  vast  audience  was  breathless.  He  rose,  and  the 
cheering  which  greeted  him  was  as  the  sound  of  many 
waters ;  and  the  magnificent  oration  in  which  he  met 
the  courts  of  law,  and  questioned  their  decisions — in 
which  he  met  his  opponents,  and  gave  their  argu- 
ments to  the  winds — ^in  which  he  maintained  the  in- 
dependence of  the  Church  and  the  doctrine  of  non- 
intrusion— in  which  he  asserted,  if  there  is  a  queen  in 
the  state,  there  is  a  king  in  the  Church,  occupied  three 
hours  in  delivery.  The  crisis  was  a  great  one,  and  he 
nobly  met  it.  ISTever  was  Demosthenes  more  eloquent 
— Paul  more  fearless — never  was  Whitefield  more 
successful.  Under  his  all  but  inspired  periods  the 
vast  assembly  swayed  like  a  field  of  grain  before  the 
winds  of  summer.  When  he  concluded,  he  was  wrap- 
ped up  in  cloaks  and  shawls,  and  taken  to  an  adjoin- 
ing house,  so  exhausted  as  to  render  the  attention  of 
friends  necessary  for  several  hours.     The  vote  was 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  113 

A  great  mind  roused.  Whitefield  and  "Wesley. 

taken;  and  Chalmers,  witliout  being  there  to  vote, 
carried  with  him  the  Assembly ;  and  the  Free  Church 
sprang  into  being,  and  Scotland  felt  that  a  new  and 
powerful  impulse  was  given  to  our  Christianity,  which 
will  be  felt  for  a  thousand  ages.  Oh,  when  the  mind 
of  a  great  man  fully  bathed  in  the  light  of  heaven, 
and  the  heart  of  a  great  man  filled  with  the  love  of 
Christ,  are  thoroughly  roused,  they  can  almost  turn 
the  world  upside  down ;  and  any  ordinary  man,  fully 
in  earnest  in  his  work,  may  accomplish  wonders. 

Since  my  mind  has  been  able  to  form  a  true  esti- 
mate of  the  character  of  Whitefield  and  Wesley,  they 
have  commanded  my  highest  admiration.  Were  I  a 
hero  worshiper,  they  would  be  of  those  before  whose 
altars  I  would  bow  down  with  profound  homage,  and 
upon  which  I  would  offer  my  costly  incense.  Were 
I  a  pope,  I  would  canonize  them,  as  they  have  done 
more  for  the  world  than  all  the  monkish  and  Jesuit 
saints  crowded  into  the  Calendar  by  that  veracious 
compiler  of  lying  legends,  Alban  Butler.  Intellectu- 
ally, they  were  not  the  greatest  men  of  their  day ;  but 
as  simple  preachers  of  the  Gospel  they  had  no  supe- 
riors in  any  age  of  the  Church  since  the  days  of  Paul. 
With  great  powers  of  mind — with  large  hearts — with 
the  most  expansive  benevolence — with  the  highest 
estimate  of  the  value  of  the  soul  and  the  eternal  im- 
portance of  its  salvation  through  Jesus  Christ,  they 
sought  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature.  This 
was  their  own  object.  There  were  no  efforts  to  catch 
applause — none  to  be  popular  with  the  fashionable- 


114  PREACHEES  AND  PREACHING. 

Their  preaching.  Their  incessant  labor. 

and  frivolous ;  there  was  no  flowery  diction  nor  gaudy 
metaphor  mixed  up  with  fanciful  descriptions  and 
pretty  pictures ;  there  was  no  taking  of  a  text  for  a 
pretext,  and  then  running  away  from  it  among  the 
things  actual  and  possible  for  material  to  fill  up  a  dis- 
course. They  were  not  of  the  class  of  preachers  who 
tell  men  that  they  must  be  saved  "on  general  princi- 
ples"— who  talk  wisely  of  "volition"  when  they  mean 
"will"  —  who  expand  "duty"  into  "moral  obliga- 
tion," and  "  thinking  and  doing"  into  "  intellectual 
processes  and  moral  powers" — in  whose  hands  "heat" 
becomes  "caloric,"  and  "jDlants  and  animals"  "organ- 
ized substances,"  and  a  "certain  man  of  the  Phari- 
sees" "a  gentleman  of  the  Pharisees,"  and  "the  ten  vir- 
gins" "  ten  young  ladies."  Oh  no.  The  law  of  their 
life  was  to  preach  Christ  and  him  crucified.  And  to 
do  this,  they  sacrificed  all  domestic  enjoyment  and  per- 
sonal ease ;  they  crossed  the  ocean  many  times ;  they 
endured,  joyfully,  all  manner  of  persecution,  from 
those  who  sat  in  Moses'  seat  down  to  the  lowest  of 
the  rabble ;  they  rose  from  the  bed  of  sickness  to  ad- 
dress multitudes  when  it  was  feared  they  might  ex- 
change the  pulpit  for  the  bier ;  "  they  wore  out  life  in 
labors  so  incessant  that  it  looked  as  if  they  were  in 
haste  to  bring  it  to  a  close."  And  if  not  possessing 
[the  classic  purity  of  Hall,  nor  the  dee]3  thoughtful- 
ness  of  Edwards,  nor  the  grand  sublimity  of  Howe, 
nor  the  silvery  light  of  Bates,  nor  the  vast  knowledge 
of  Owen,  nor  the  wonderful  imagination  of  Taylor, 
thev  combined  some  of  the  noblest  characteristics  of 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  115 

Their  enduring  name.  The  need  of  them. 

these  with  otliers  peculiarly  their  own.  Like  John  the 
Baptist,  they  were  burning  and  shining  lights ;  and 
wherever  they  went,  however  opposed  by  formalists, 
the  heart  of  the  Church  opened  for  their  reception ; 
cities  and  communities  were  moved  by  their  presence ; 
and  they  have  filled  the  nations  with  the  fame  and 
the  fruit  of  their  evangelic  labors.  They  have  writ- 
ten their  names  upon  the  rock  forever.  Their  fair 
fame,  as  well  as  the  fruits  of  their  great  labors,  belong 
to  the  entire  Church  of  God ;  and  while  we  would 
not,  in  mere  intellectual  power,  place  them  among 
"  the  three  first,"  we  would,  as  noble  preachers  of  the 
Grospel,  place  them  in  the  very  first  rank  of  the  min- 
isters of  Christ  of  any  age.  Their  names  will  live 
with  those  of  Luther,  and  Calvin,  and  Knox,  as  long 
as  the  sun  or  moon  endure. 

And  yet  their  great  leading  characteristic,  and 
which  elevated  them  heaven-high  above  other  men, 
was  their  intense  earnestness.  They  rose  at  a  time 
when  the  Church  of  England  had  sadly  backslidden 
from  the  faith — when  infidelity  had  obtained  among 
the  higher  classes — when  bishops  and  rectors  lost  all 
authority  as  religious  teachers — when  spirituality  in 
religion  had  been  supplanted  by  the  most  heartless 
formalit}^  The  picture  drawn  of  the  moral  state  of 
the  English  Church  at  that  time  by  the  elegant  pen 
of  Dr.  Stevens,  the  learned  author  of  the  "  History  of 
Methodism,"  is  truly  affecting,  and  shows  how  little 
a  mere  Liturgy,  however  truthful,  can  do  to  keep  alive 
the  spirit  of  the  GospeL    In  this  state  of  things  White- 


116  PEEACHERS  AND   PREACHING. 

The  results  of  their  effoi'ts. 

field  and  Wesley  appear  together.  The  effect  was 
like  the  rising  of  the  sun  of  summer  in  mid- winter, 
when  the  earth,  the  streams  are  all  frozen — when  the 
trees  and  forests  are  leafless.  Such  preaching  the  peo- 
ple then  living  never  had  heard.  The  common  peo- 
ple heard  them  gladly.  The  palaces  of  bishops — the 
rectories  of  fox-hunting  priests — soon  felt  their  influ- 
ence. It  went  up  to  the  court  of  the  sovereign.  It 
pervaded  Britain — it  crossed  to  the  American  colo- 
nies. It  is,  at  this  hour,  felt  at  the  ends  of  the  earth. 
It  will  never  die  out.  And  all,  under  God,  because 
they  were  earnest  preachers  of  the  Gospel.  And  if 
they  had  left  no  other  legacy  to  the  Church  than  that 
of  their  example  as  earnest,  fervid  preachers  of  the 
Gospel,  for  that  even  would  Christendom  owe  them 
a  vast  debt  of  gratitude. 


PEEACHEE3  AND   PREACHING.  117 

Dr.  Duff  at  Exeter  Hall.  His  appearance. 


CHAPTEE  XYII. 

Dr.  Duff  as  a  Preacher. — At  Exeter  Hall. — Always  earnest. — Earn- 
estness a  great  Power. — Should  be  cultivated. — An  Example. — 
The  want  of  Earnestness  destructive  to  Congregations. — A  Re- 
vival of  earnest  Men  needed. 

With  the  name  of  Dr.  Duff  we  had  been  famihar 
for  years,  and  had  often  been  intensely  excited  by  the 
reading  of  his  missionary  speeches,  and  by  his  letters 
from  India.  But  we  saw  him  for  the  first  time  on  the 
platform  at  Exeter  Hall,  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society.  Lord  Ashley  was 
in  the  chair,  and  on  his  right  and  left  were  earls,  mar- 
quises, lords,  knights,  bishops,  and  ministers  of  all 
branches  of  the  Protestant  Church.  In  the  midst  of 
the  services  a  tall,  thin  man,  with  black  hair  combed 
back  from  his  forehead,  with  small  head,  and  a  pene- 
trating eye,  was  quietly  introduced  to  the  platform, 
and  took  a  seat  near  us.  The  earnest  expression  of 
his  countenance  arrested  our  attention.  When  the 
name  of  Dr.  Duff,  from  Calcutta,  was  announced  as 
the  next  speaker,  not  with  the  slow,  measured  motion 
of  the  artistic  declaimer,  but  with  the  spirit  of  a  race- 
horse champing  its  bit  and  eager  for  the  course,  this 
man  took  the  speaker's  stand,  and  was  received  with 
prolonged  greetings.  Only  then  did  we  know  that 
he  was  Dr.  Duff.    His  emotions  were  intense  when  he 


118  PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

His  intense  earnestness.  The  impression. 

commenced.  Are  they  ever  otherwise  ?  Gracefully 
bowing  to  the  president,  he  then  turned  to  the  people, 
and  for  a  length  of  time  that  would  not  be  endured 
in  any  other  man,  he  poured  forth  "thoughts  that 
breathed  and  words  that  burned."  Even  now  we 
seem  to  hear  him  say,  with  all  the  excitement  of  a 
Eoman  sibyl,  "I  look  upon  this  Society,  at  the  pres- 
ent moment,  as  lifting  up  in  the  face  of  the  whole 
world  the  united  protest  of  the  British  people  against 
the  abounding  errors  and  delusions  of  every  kind  that 
are  contrary  to  God's  word.  It  is  the  embodied  pro- 
test of  the  British  people  against  all  the  heartless  de- 
isms, and  revolting  socialisms,  and  blaspheming  pan- 
theisms, and  withering  skepticisms  of  all. kinds.  It 
is  the  uplifted  testimony  of  the  British  people  to  this 
great  fact,  that  the  Bible  alone  contains  infallible 
truth."  For  more  than  an  hour  did  he  pour  forth  his 
full  soul  upon  that  immense  audience,  and  with  ges- 
tures, contortions,  and  a  vehemence  of  action  such  as 
I  had  never  previously  witnessed.  And  the  effect 
was  electric  upon  earls,  marquises,  lords,  knights, 
presbyters,  and  people.  When  he  concluded,  drip- 
ping with  perspiration  as  if  his  "  head  were  waters," 
he  rushed  from  the  stage  amid  a  "  Kentish  fire,"  such 
as  an  Exeter  Hall  audience  knows  how  to  give  to 
such  a  man.  It  was  a  great  success,  and  made  an  im- 
pression which  none  present  can  ever  forget.  The 
good  sense,  the  well-put  general  truths  of  Ashley,  of 
Cholmondeley,  of  Sir  Kobert  Inglis,  of  Harrowby,  of 
Chichester,  of  the  Bishops  of  Cashel  and  Bombay, 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.       119 

No  temporary  excitement.  Earnestness  a  power. 

were  all  carried  away  before  the  eloquent  torrent  of 
tlie  great  Scottish  missionary.  Yet  the  very  same 
speech  might  be  made  by  good  Bishop  Jeffries,  a 
Christian  minister  of  the  most  lovely  spirit,  without 
exciting  more  than  a  ripple  upon  the  feelings  of  that 
vast  assembly. 

Nor  was  this  a  temporary  earnestness  excited  by 
the  occasion,  and  by  the  presence  of  such  an  audience, 
composed  to  such  a  degree  of  the  great  and  the  titled 
in  the  state  and  in  the  Church.  "We  heard  him  often 
subsequently  in  public  and  in  private — in  the  pulpit, 
the  platform,  the  parlor — and  he  was  always  the  same 
earnest  man.  Things  unto  which  he  could  not  put 
his  whole  soul  he  left  to  others ;  and  th.e  influence  of 
his  late  visit  to  Britain  and  America  will  never  be 
lost. 

The  power  of  an  earnest,  even  if  not  a  graceful 
manner,  in  the  pulpit,  is  felt  by  all ;  but  when  com- 
bined with  gracefulness,  it  influences  alike  the  learn- 
ed and  the  ignorant.  The  power  of  earnestness  is  not 
sufficiently  realized  by  teachers  or  preachers.  Indeed 
it  is  depreciated  by  many  as  out  of  place  in  the  pul- 
pit, who  admit  its  power  every  where  else !  Manner 
is  to  matter  what  neat  garments  are  to  the  human 
body — what  a  flexible,  melodious  voice  is  to  singing 
— what  a  pleasant  exterior  is  to  a  well-cultivated  mind 
and  heart.  It  is  admitted  that  some  of  the  necessary 
qualifications  to  a  good  orator  must  be  natural — as  a 
good  voice,  and  ready  articulation,  and  an  easy  man- 
ner, and  a  pleasing  countenance ;  but  where  nature 


120       PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

To  be  cultivated.  An  example. 

has  been  sparing  as  to  these,  there  has  been  great  pul- 
pit power.  The  history  of  Demosthenes  teaches  how 
much  effort  may  do  to  surmount  the  defects  of  nature ; 
and  if  a  Demosthenes  and  a  Cicero  could  so  diligent- 
ly cultivate  the  powers  of  oratory,  and  carry  the  art 
of  public  speaking  to  such  perfection,  in  order  to 
counteract  the  designs  of  a  Philip  and  a  Catiline,  why 
should  not  preachers  of  the  Gospel  do  the  same  in  or- 
der to  save  souls,  and  to  extend  the  empire  of  the 
Gospel,  and  to  defend  our  most  holy  religion  against 
the  assaults  of  infidelity  and  error  ?  If  an  eloquent 
manner  is  beyond  the  reach  of  the  preacher,  an  earn- 
est manner  is  not;  and  true  earnestness  is  a  virtue 
which  covers  a  multitude  of  defects.  I  well  remem- 
ber a  young  licentiate  from  the  Seminary  who  preach-, 
ed  for  me  an  evening  lecture.  He  drew  his  trial  ser- 
mon from  his  pocket,  and  commenced  reading  it  with 
not  very  good  light.  And  such  reading !  He  stam- 
mered on  to  the  end ;  and  when  going  out  from  the 
service,  the  question  was  oft  repeated,  "Pray,  who  is 
this  man  ?"  He  was  sent  out  to  be  a  missionary  in  a 
country  where  a  man  was  nothing  unless  he  could 
*'  lift  up  axes  upon  the  thick  trees."  We  told  him 
plainly  that  unless  he  at  once  changed  his  manner  of 
preaching  he  had  better  return  home.  He  asked  what 
he  could  do  to  change  it.  We  told  him  to  repair 
daily  to  a  certain  pine  wood,  away  from  human  hab- 
itation, upon  whose  tall  trees  the  crows  had  built  their 
nests,  and  there  to  shout  until  he  drove  them  from 
their  eyry.    And  he  did  so.    He  became  a  most  earn- 


PREACHEKS  AND  PREACHING.  121 

A  regret.  Suffering  congregations.  A  case. 

est,  useful  preacher,  although  painfully  awkward  in 
manner ;  and  is  not  unknown  as  a  defender  of  the 
faith  through  the  press. 

.  It  is  deeply  to  be  regretted  that  this  thing  of  earn- 
estness is  not  more  cultivated  by  the  ministry  of  our 
country,  and  especially  by  the  educated  portion  of  it, 
which  has  to  such  a  degree  the  moulding  of  public 
opinion  in  its  control.  There  are  multitudes  of  con- 
gregations suffering  simply  for  the  want  of  an  earnest 
ministry.  The  pastor  whiles  away  his  time  in  the 
early  part  of  the  week ;  defers  all  preparations  to  its 
close ;  enters  the  pulpit  conscious  of  his  unprepared- 
ness  to  feed  the  people ;  metes  out  a  written  homily 
or  an  undigested  exhortation,  of  no  credit  to  himself, 
of  no  use  to  the  people.  From  frequency  of  repeti- 
tion this  becomes  a  habit,  until  minister  and  people 
become  listless  together.  We  heard  a  pastor  once 
preach  a  sermon  to  a  crowded  audience,  on  a  special 
occasion,  to  his  own  people.  He  was  interrupted  in 
the  midst  of  his  discourse  by  the  fainting  of  one  of 
his  hearers.  When  order  was  restored,  he  thus  re- 
sumed his  discourse :  "Well,  I  forgot  what  I  was  say- 
ing, but  I  will  proceed."  And  with  his  hand  in  his 
bosom  he  did  proceed  to  the  end  of  a  tedious,  dis- 
jointed talk,  utterly  beneath  him  and  the  occasion. 
And  yet  he  was  a  man  of  rare  powers  and  piety,  and 
needed  nothing  but  industry  to  make  him  one  of  the 
brightest  ornaments  of  the  American  pulpit. 

Preaching  is  only  an  easy  work  to  those  who  make 
it  such ;  and  those  who  make  it  such  are  loafers,  and 

F 


122  PREACHEKS   AND   PREACHING. 

Idle  Mondays.  Summerfield.  The  want  of  the  age. 

not  laborers,  in  the  Lord's  vineyard.  Idle  Mondays 
have  much  to  do  with  light  food  on  Sundays.  Care- 
ful preparation,  and  a  soul  all  alive  to  the  truth  in  the 
delivery,  is  the  great  want  of  the  pulpit  in  our  day. 
We  sat  once  in  the  gallery  of  the  Methodist  church  in 
John  Street,  New  York,  while  Summerfield  preached. 
Every  thing  about  him  was  simple,  but  neat.  His 
pale  face  was  the  picture  of  innocence.  His  devotion- 
al service  was  simple,  but  intensely  earnest.  It  was 
subdued  earnestness.  There  was  no  vehemence — no 
splendid  imagery — no  magnificent  description — no 
effort  to  preach  a  great  sermon.  It  was  the  simple 
truth  he  preached ;  but  he  preached  with  an  empha- 
sis and  a  solemnity  which  fixed  attention  —  which 
raised  every  hearer,  for  a  time  at  least,  above  earthly 
things,  and  made  them  feel  the  powers  of  the  world 
to  come. 

Earnestness  is  the  great  want  of  the  pulpit  in  this 
age.  A  true  revival  of  earnestness  there  would  in- 
troduce a  new  epoch  into  the  religious  history  of  the 
world.  Nowhere  is  tameness  so  much  out  of  place  as 
there,  and  nowhere  is  it  more  common.  Tameness  in 
the  pulpit  begets  inattention  among  the  people ;  and 
the  conviction  obtains  that  the  minister  scarcely  be- 
lieves the  solemn  truths  which  he  preaches  with  so 
little  feeling.  "  Give  me  liberty,  or  give  me  death," 
was  the  fervent  exclamation  of  a  noble  and  eloquent 
patriot ;  and  the  minister  who  does  not  ascend  the  pul- 
pit with  the  prayerful  resolve,  if  it  be  the  will  of  God, 
savingly  to  impress  some  soul,  had  better  stay  out  of  it. 


PKEACHEKS   AND   PKEACHING.  123 

A  question  not  to  be  settled.  Purely  extempore. 


CHAPTER  XYIII. 

Extempore  Preaching. — What  it  is. — Various  Ways  of  preparing 
Sermons. — Preaching  without  Reading. — Advantages  of  Writing. 
— Let  Men  preach  in  the  Way  best  for  them. — Examples. — Dr. 
M'Neil. — Dr.  Candlish. — Dr.  Alexander. — Advice  to  a  young 
Minister. 

The  question  as  to  the  effectiveness  of  extempore 
preacliing  over  written  sermons  has  been  frequently 
and  ably  discussed,  and  as  there  is  very  much,  and 
very  reasonably,  to  be  said  on  both  sides,  it  is  one  of 
those  questions  which  can  never  be  settled.  Extreme 
opinions  on  either  side  betray  a  great  lack  of  thought- 
fulness,  if  not  ignorance,  on  the  whole  subject. 

Preaching  which  is  purely  extempore  must  be,  in 
the  main,  very  light  food.  In  the  midst  of  excite- 
ment, and  under  strongly  propelling  causes,  a  minis- 
ter may  surpass  himself  in  the  power  and  fluency  of 
an  address ;  but  the  preacher  who  entirely  depends 
upon  the  suggestions  of  the  moment  both  for  text  and 
matter  must  soon  become  a  driveler,  if  he  ever  was 
any  thing  else.  And  nothing  but  this  is  piirehj  ex- 
tempore. We  once  knew  a  man  who  excited  much 
attention  as  a  preacher  for  a  short  time,  who  gave  out 
that  he  could  expound  and  preach  on  any  text  that 
any  of  his  hearers  might  suggest  better  than  any  "  col- 
lege-larned  minister"  could  do  by  study.    Some  queer 


124  PREACHERS   AND   PREACHING. 

A  queer  sample.  Charlatans. 

texts  were  given  him,  of  which  he  gave  very  queer 
expositions.  On  a  certain  occasion  when  no  text  was 
suggested,  he  rose,  and,  taking  off  his  coat,  hung  it  on 
a  chair  behind  him.  "  This  action,"  said  he,  "  my  breth- 
ren, suggests  a  text :  '  I  have  put  off  my  coat,  how  shall 
I  put  it  on  ;'  a  text  on  which  no  man  that  I  know  of 
has  ever  preached."  At  the  close  of  an  unmeaning  ha- 
rangue, a  man  rose  and  said,  "I  have  heard  you  preach 
that  sermon  before,  sir,  when  you  put  off  your  coat  as 
now."  The  man  put  on  his  coat,  and  went  to  parts 
unknown.  Such  charlatans  are  very  common  in  our 
new  and  distant  settlements  ;  and  it  is  wonderful  the 
power  they  gain,  for  a  time,  over  some  honest  minds. 
They  claim  a  semi-inspiration  on  the  ground  of  their 
unstudied  and  profuse  nonsense  ;  nor  are  those  want- 
ing who  admit  the  validity  of  the  proof!  But  the 
more  a  donkey  brays  the  more  proof  he  gives  of  his 
nature,  and  the  more  offensive  becomes  his  shouting. 
All  such  preachers  live  but  a  few  weeks. 

There  are  others  who  select  their  text  and  arrange 
the  heads  of  discussion,  and  leave  all  else  to  the  hour 
of  preaching.  They  commit  their  heads,  but  write 
nothing.  This  is  called  extempore  preaching ;  but  it 
is  not  purely  so.  Such  is  the  manner  of  preparation 
of  very  many  excellent  men ;  and  it  has  its  advantages. 
There  are  others  who  write  their  sermons  carefully, 
and  commit  them,  and  then  deliver  them  without 
notes.  This  has  been  the  manner  of  very  many  pop- 
ular preachers,  and  it  has  its  advantages  over  almost 
all  other  ways  of  preaching.    But  it  requires  time  that 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  125 

Artistic  preaching.  Study  without  writing.  Not  reading. 

might  be  better  spent  and  a  retentive  memory,  and 
often  converts  the  preacher  into  a  recitative  actor. 
There  is  one  such  that  I  occasionally  hear,  who  pre- 
pares for  the  pulpit  as  do  actors  for  the  stage,  and 
whose  preaching  is  so  artistic  as  to  be  offensive.  You 
can  tell  when  the  eloquent,  or  the  pathetic,  or  the  sub- 
lime are  coming  by  their  foreshadowings  in  voice,  in 
gesture,  in  swell,  in  the  movements  of  the  body  and 
countenance.  The  "simplicity  and  godly  sincerity," 
if  there,  pass  into  eclipse.  But  when  well  and  truly 
done,  it  secures  well-arranged  thought,  and  gives  a 
freedom  of  utterance  and  confidence,  and  leaves  the 
eye  at  liberty  to  address  the  audience.  There  are  yet 
others  who  study  closely  their  subject — who  arrange 
all  their  ideas — who  write  out,  as  it  were,  their  finest 
thoughts  on  their  memories,  and  who,  in  preaching, 
keep  as  exactly  to  their  plan  as  if  it  were  all  written. 
One  such,  at  least,  we  know,  who  never  writes,  and 
who  yet  delivers  in  the  pulpit,  with  almost  verbal  ex- 
actness, the  sermon  thus  prepared  in  his  study.  We 
will  not  here  discuss  how  far  these  preparations  may 
be  said  to  be  extempore ;  they  are,  at  best,  but  efforts 
to  get  rid  of  the  labor  of  writing,  and  of  the  inconven- 
ience of  notes. 

There  are  many  things  to  be  said  in  favor  of  preach- 
ing, after  a  careful  preparation,  without  reading. 
There  is,  in  the  public  mind,  a  prejudice  in  its  favor. 
It  is  the  best  adapted  to  interest  the  common  mind. 
We  can  hear  a  person  speak  longer,  with  interest,  than 
we  can  hear  him  read;  hence  Cecil  advised  young 


126  PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 


Cecil's  advice.  Fluency.  Left  his  prayer-book. 

preachers  to  preach  only  thirty  minutes  if  they  read 
their  sermons,  and  not  to  exceed  forty  if  they  did 
not.  And  we  see  constantly  how  persons  of  ready 
utterance,  with  but  little  sense  or  information,  sway 
the  opinions  of  the  masses,  when  men  of  high  endow- 
ments fall  into  the  shade,  because  unable  to  speak 
without  previous  preparation.  Fluency  of  utterance 
passes  with  the  multitude  for  talent,  and  never  to  be 
at  a  loss  for  something  to  say,  is  mistaken  for  the  pos- 
session of  exhaustless  resources.  Ease  and  fluency  of 
address  may  be  cultivated ;  and,  seeing  the  value  that 
is  placed  upon  them  by  the  public,  no  minister,  how- 
ever learned,  should  consider  them  as  beneath  his  at- 
tention. They  are  means  of  usefulness,  and,  as  such, 
should  be  highly  valued.  Small  change  is  needful 
to  make  the  journey  of  life  pleasantly,  and  is  not 
overlooked  by  the  millionaire.  There  should  be  a 
readiness  to  meet  all  emergencies ;  and  the  want  of  it 
is  a  great  defect  in  the  character  of  a  minister,  how- 
ever excellent  in  other  respects.  A  minister  once 
called  upon  a  bereaved  mother,  who,  after  a  brief  con- 
versation, asked  him  to  pray  with  her.  "  Indeed," 
said  he,  after  feeling  his  pockets,  "  I  have  left  my 
prayer-book  behind  me.  I  will  go  and  get  it,  and  will 
return  in  a  few  minutes."  He  went  for  his  prayer- 
book,  and  when  he  returned  the  lady  declined  seeing 
him,  no  doubt  feeling  that  the  man  who  could  not 
pray  without  a  book,  for  grace  to  sustain  her,  could 
not  pray  very  acceptably  with  one. 

So,  also,  there  are  many  things  to  be  said  in  favor  of 


PREACHEES  AND  PREACHING.        127 

Aphorism.  Benefits  of  writing.  Its  security. 

written  sermons,  well  prepared,  and  well  read  from  the 
pnlpit.  "  Eeading,"  says  my  Lord  Yernlam,  "makes 
a  full  man ;  speaking  a  ready  man  ;  writing  a  correct 
man."  And  the  perfection  of  a  minister  consists  in 
the  union  of  all  three — fullness,  readiness,  correctness. 
And  as  the  preacher  is,  or  should  be,  a  teacher  of  di- 
vine truth,  he  should  be  a  correct  teacher.  ISTor  is 
this  to  be  obtained,  as  a  rule,  without  much  more  care- 
ful writing.  Eeligion  has  to  do  with  the  mind  equal- 
ly with  the  affections :  and  it  is  only  when  the  affec- 
tions are  excited  and  directed  by  the  truth  that  their 
excitement  continues  or  its  progress  is  useful.  Mere 
knowledge,  without  enlisting  the  affections,  makes 
formalists ;  mere  excitement,  without  knowledge, 
makes  fanatics.  Writing  secures  elegance  of  style 
and  of  diction.  It  secures  order  in  arrangement,  and 
secures  against  an  unconnected,  rambling  manner  of 
discourse.  It  secures  against  the  same  sermon  from 
all  texts ;  from  a  limited  round  of  topics ;  and  from 
the  endless  repetitions  of  the  same  figures,  phrases, 
and  anecdotes.  It  is  a  bar  in  the  way  of  that  tempt- 
ation to  indolence  to  which  the  ready  and  the  extem- 
poraneous are  exposed.  It  secures  against  those  sad 
failures,  often  witnessed,  of  men  who  preach  well  when 
in  tune  and  excited,  and  when  they  understand  their 
subject,  but  who  miserably  fail  when  out  of  tune 
and  dull.  I  once  heard  a  famous  doctor,  on  principle 
opposed  to  writing  sermons,  preach  like  an  angel ;  I 
heard  him  again,  and  he  acted  like  a  man  frightened 
when  swimmin.Df,  who  throws  about  his  hands  and 


128       PREACHEES  AND  PREACHING. 

Study  thyself.  Adaptation.  Theory  and  histoiy. 

feet  in  every  direction  to  save  himself  from  drown- 
ing. 

Every  man  entering  the  ministry  should  study  the 
way  in  which  he  himself  can  best  preach,  and  in  the 
way  of  his  selection  he  should  seek  to  preach  in  the 
best  manner.  If  a  man  writes  well  his  own  style,  he 
is  a  good  writer ;  and  if  a  man  preaches  well  in  his 
own  way,  he  is  a  good  preacher;  and  the  preacher 
should  adapt  himself  to  the  people  to  whom!  he 
preaches.  One  of  Bishop  Butler's  sermons  preached 
to  a  rural  congregation  would  be  Greek  to  them,  and 
a  plain,  disjointed,  rhapsodical  exhortation  to  a  culti- 
vated congregation  would  be  foolishness  to  them.  "We 
once  heard  a  student  of  Dr.  Mason's  preach  a  sermon 
to  a  colored  congregation  in  Anthony  Street,  ISTcw 
York,  on  a  Sabbath  evening  in  August,  when  the 
mercury  was  at  90°,  and  he  kept  them  for  an  hour 
and  a  half  under  the  infliction  of  a  carefully -written 
and  badly-read  sermon,  in  which  quotations  were 
made  from  Cudworth,  Dugald  Stewart,  Locke,  Bacon. 
And  when  the  services  were  ended,  no  doubt  they  all 
felt  as  did  the  mathematician  who,  on  finishing  Para- 
dise Lost,  threw  it  indignantly  down,  saying,  "It 
proves  nothing."  One  at  least  resolved  not  to  be 
caught  by  him  again  in  like  circumstances  I 

While  the  theory  of  preaching  would  seem  decid- 
edly to  lean  against  reading  sermons  from  the  pulpit, 
the  history  of  preachers  would  seem  as  decidedly  to 
lean  to  the  reading  of  them.  The  great  men  of  the 
American  pulpit,  with  but  few  exceptions,  were  close 


PKEACHEKS  AND  PEE  ACHING.  129 

Able  men  readers,  M'Neil.  Candlish.  Alexander. 

readers.  The  most  eminent  living  divines  are  read- 
ers, whose  influence  is  felt  all  over  Christendom.  The 
men  who  have  maintained  their  position  among  intel- 
ligent people  for  thirty  or  forty  years  are,  almost  to 
a  man,  readers.  Save  one — and  he  was  an  eminent 
exception — we  know  not  one,  of  all  who  commenced 
the  ministry  with  us,  who  has  risen  to  any  high  de- 
gree of  eminence  and  usefulness,  who  did  not  read. 
We  heard  Dr.  M'Neil,  of  Liverpool,  preach  a  fine  ser- 
mon, obviously  studied,  but  without  note ;  and  short- 
ly afterward  we  heard  Dr.  Candlish  read  a  fine  sermon 
in  Edinburgh.  They  were  both  masterly  of  their 
kind.  And  this  is  all  we  can  ask.  Let  a  minister 
study  himself,  his  people,  his  circumstances  and  sur- 
roundings, and  then  let  him  decide  what  plan  of 
preaching  to  adopt.  And  when  he  adopts  his  plan, 
let  him  work  it  well.  "  After  all,"  says  Seeker,  "  ev- 
ery man  hath  his  proper  gift  of  God,  one  after  this 
manner,  another  after  that.  Let  each  cultivate  his 
own,  and  no  one  censure  or  despise  the  other." 

Dr.  Alexander  wrote  his  sermons  carefully,  and 
then,  as  thoughts  struck  him,  he  would  throw  up  his 
spectacles,  and  extemporize  with  great  power.  And 
thus  we  have  heard  him  read  and  extemporize.  And 
if  "  vehement  simplicity"  is  eloquence,  then  was  he 
one  of  the  most  eloquent  men  we  ever  knew.  On  the 
whole,  we  lean  strongly  to  the  opinion  that  to  write 
sermons  carefully,  to  deliver  them  well,  with  energy 
and  unction,  freely  to  use  the  thoughts  which  may 
suggest  themselves  in  the  delivery,  is  the  best  way  of 
F2 


130       PKEACHERS  AND  PREACHINa. 


Writing  the  way  that  wears. 


preaching  to  tlie  same  congregation  for  a  lifetime.  Mis- 
sionaries, itinerants,  evangelists,  or  those  who  change 
their  place  of  labor  every  two  or  three  years,  may  suc- 
ceed better  on  another  plan ;  but  for  settled  pastors, 
careful  writing  is  the  way  that  wears. 

The  following  lines,  addressed  to  a  young  minister, 
have  sense  in  them : 

"Your  sermons  write 
From  end  to  end ;  and  every  thought  invest 
With  full  expression,  such  as  best  may  suit 
Its  nature  and  its  use  ;  and  then  pronounce 
As  much  as  your  remembrance  can  retain. 
Eather  read  every  sentence,  word  for  word, 
Than  wander  in  a  desultory  strain — 
A  chaos,  dark,  iregular  and  wild — 
Where  the  same  thought  and  language  oft  revolves, 
And  re-revolves,  to  tire  sagacious  minds. 
But  never  to  your  notes  be  so  enslaved 
As  to  suppress  some  instantaneous  thought, 
That  may  like  lightning  dart  upon  the  soul, 
And  blaze  in  strength  and  majesty  divine." 


PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING.       131 

Destitution.  Its  centres.  Increasing. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Our  Destitution. — Increasing. — Our  Modes  of  educating  our  Minis- 
try.— Waiting  a  Call. — How  the  State  reaches  all. — The  Papal 
System. — Every  Minister  should  have  a  Place. — The  lay  Talent 
should  be  employed. 

In  view  of  our  deplorable  destitution  of  tlie  means 
of  grace — of  our  rapidly-increasing  population — of 
the  villages  and  cities  springing  up  in  every  part  of 
tKe  land,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Eocky  Mountains, 
and  thence  to  the  shores  of  the  Pacific,  almost  with 
the  rapidity  of  the  gourd  of  Jonah,  it  is  a  serious 
question  whether  the  Church  is  doing  all  it  can,  and 
all  it  should,  in  order  to  give  the  Gospel  to  all  our 
people.  The  greatest  centres  of  our  population,  like 
ISTew  York,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  New  Orleans, 
where  are  our  most  gorgeous  churches,  and  our  most 
able  and  eloquent  ministers,  are  the  most  destitute  of 
the  means  of  grace,  taking  the  population  as  the  rule ; 
and,  save  a  few  of  the  older  and  smaller,  there  is  not 
a  state  of  the  Confederacy  in  which  Church  provisions 
are  made  for  one  half  the  people.  And  with  all  our 
activity  to  increase  the  number  of  our  ministers  and 
churches,  the  proportion  between  the  destitution  and 
the  supply  is  daily  on  the  increase.  And  even  in  our 
boasted  "cities  of  churches,"  where  there  is  a  church 
for  every  thousand  people,  there  are  multitudes  who 


132       PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Multitudes  not  reached.  A  question.  Long  training. 

are  unreaclied  by  our  means  of  evangelization.  A 
worse  than  heathen  morality  is  on  the  increase  "under 
the  shadow  of  our  most  gorgeous  churches. 

And  can  the  wants  of  our  increasing  moral  desti- 
tution be  ever  overtaken  in  the  way  in  which  our 
churches  are  now  raising  up  a  ministry  ?  Never. 
Among  the  Presbyterian  fiamily  of  churches  the  rule 
is  to  send  a  candidate  to  college,  and  thence  to  a  the- 
ological school,  for  three  years  before  he  is  authorized 
to  preach.  From  seven  to  nine  years  are  thus  taken 
out  of  the  centre  of  a  young  man's  life  in  preparation 
for  the  ministry,  and  when  prepared  he  is  often  more 
scholastic  than  scriptural,  and  far  better  fitted  to  in- 
terest the  intelligent  than  to  instruct  the  ignorant. 
And  many  of  them,  instead  of  going  forth  every  where 
to  preach  the  word,  spend  months  watching  for  the 
removal,  by  death  or  otherwise,  of  some  pastors  of 
good  churches,  that,  if  Providence  would  so  order, 
they  may  step  into  their  place.  Their  fit  emblem  is 
that  of  a  hawk  upon  a  tall  tree,  watching  for  an  op- 
portunity to  make  a  profitable  descent.  And  these, 
often,  when  Providence  does  not  meet  their  desires  by 
removing  the  Kev.  Dr.  A.  or  the  Eev.  Mr.  B.,  and  by 
inducing  their  vacant  congregations  to  call  them,  pro- 
claim that  there  is  too  great  a  supply  of  ministers ; 
that  the  profession  is  full  to  an  overflow !  These  rev- 
erend idlers — these  diligent  waiters  for  "  calls,"  are 
far  too  numerous ;  and  the  longer  these  wait  for  good 
settlements,  the  less  the  probability  that  they  will  se- 
cure them.     But  if  every  man  educated  for  the  min- 


PREACHEKS  AND  PREACHING.  183 

The  state  plan.  The  papal  plan.  Rome.  Naples. 

istry  was  as  zealous  in  his  work  as  Nettleton,  and  as 
successful  as  Whiteiield,  we  could  not  yet  overtake 
the  growing  destitutions  of  the  country,  nor  answer 
the  calls  that  are  made  upon  us  from,  foreign  lands. 
What,  then,  is  to  be  done?  In  the  language  of  Job, 
"I  will  answer  also  my  part;  I  also  will  show  mine 
opinion." 

The  state,  by  a  system  of  education,  reaches  all  the 
children  within  its  limits.  It  also,  by  the  multiplica- 
tion of  civil  officers,  from  constables  and  tax-gather- 
ers up  to  chief-justices,  and  chancellors,  and  govern- 
ors, brings  its  laws  to  bear  on  all  its  citizens,  both  for 
their  protection,  and  for  their  punishment  when  they 
do  wrong.  All  teachers  and  magistrates  are  not  in- 
telligent to  the  degree  desirable ;  but  poor  teachers 
go  by  their  text-books,  and  poor  magistrates  by  the 
laws.  Poor  teachers  and  magistrates  are  better  than 
none,  and  their  errors  may  be  corrected. 

In  papal  countries  the  agents  of  the  papacy  are 
multiplied  so  as  to  come  down  to  all  the  people. 
There  are  cardinals  and  archbishops  for  the  princes 
and  highest  classes,  and  bishops  and  parish  priests  for 
the  middle  classes,  and  'monks  and  nuns,  without 
number  or  end,  for  the  poorest  classes  and  the  beg- 
gars. In- Paris,  Lyons,  Eome,  Naples,  the  beggars 
are  given  up  to  the  monks  and  nuns,  while  the  high- 
er classes  are  amused  and  flattered  by  the  higher  ec- 
clesiastics. In  Naples  you  will  see  the  monks  sitting 
among  the  Lazzaroni  that  crowd  the  wall  which  pro- 
tects the  city  from  the  waves  of  the  bay,  teaching 


134:       PEEACHEES  AND  PEEACHING. 


The  question  of  the  age.  A  field  for  every  man. 

them  to  pray  to  the  saints,  and  narrating  to  them  ly- 
ing legends,  while  cardinals  are  going  through  the 
pantomime  of  the  mass,  in-  splendid  vestments,  in  the 
cathedrals.  And  wonderful  is  the  effect  of  this  monk- 
ish oral  instruction,  as  their  beggar  pupils  are  the 
most  superstitious  and  ferocious  papists  in  existence. 
And  in  Eome  there  is  a  priest,  or  teacher  of  some 
kind,  to  every  thirty  persons  1  Now  what  can  be 
done  thus  to  bring  the  Gospel  down  to  all  our  peo- 
ple? This  is  one  of  the  questions  of  the  age.  It 
may  be  partly  answered  as  follows : 

1.  Every  minister  able  to  labor  in  the  vineyard 
should  be  provided  with  a  field  of  labor.  A  man 
may  fail  as  a  preacher  who  would  make  a  fine  teach- 
er. He  should  be  provided  with  a  school.  A  man 
may  fail  as  a  stated  preacher  who  would  make  a  use- 
ful missionary.  He  should  be  so  employed.  If  a 
church  is  not  strong  enough  to  sustain  a  minister,  he 
might  perform  half  service,  and  employ  a  part  of  his 
time  in  teaching.  This  would  be  far  preferable  to 
leaving  the  church  vacant,  and  himself  without  em- 
ployment. And  thus  have  done  some  of  the  most 
pious  and  able  ministers  with  which  God  has  blessed 
the  American  Church.  There  is  no  employment  so 
nearly  allied  to  the  ministry  as  that  of  teaching ;  and 
in  this  way  many  of  the  fathers  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  have  done  more  good  than  by  preaching. 
Thus  they  multiplied  themselves  many  fold  by  the 
preparation  of  young  men  and  their  introduction  to 
the  ministry.     But  in  some  way  or  other  every  man 


PREACHEES  AND   PREACHING.  135 

Laborers  sustained.  Papists.  Methodists. 

in  the  ministry  able  to  work  should  be  set  to  work. 
The  harvest  is  great,  and  every  minister  should  be  a 
reaper.  Fields  should  be  selected,  and  laborers  should 
be  sent  to  them,  and  sustained  by  the  Church.  If 
this  plan  were  carried  out,  there  are  hundreds  of  min- 
isters now  doing  nothing,  or  very  little,  that  might  be 
very  usefully  employed.  There  is  not  a  minister  able 
to  preach  who  should  not  be  preaching  weekly  some- 
where— in  church  or  school-house — on  the  hill-side — 
on  the  wayside — on  the  sea-side — in  season  and  out 
of  season.  We  know  not  that  there  is  any  authority 
any  where,  out  of  the  papal  and  Methodist  churches, 
that  can  effect  this.  These  churches  find  employ- 
ment for  all  their  ministers,  and  can  supply  their 
most  feeble  congregations.  And  their  systems  of  sup- 
porting ministers  are  arranged  so  as  to  secure  this 
end.  Hence,  you  never  see  a  papal  priest  or  a  Meth- 
odist minister  looking  for  a  place !  A  place  is  always 
supplied  them,  and  they  are  supported  in  it.  In  this 
they  are  certainly  worthy  of  imitation.  And  if  other 
churches  would  adopt  this  plan,  they  would  be  add- 
ing largely  to  the  laborers  in  the  vineyard  of  the 
Lord.  It  is  precisely  here  that  the  Presbyterian  fam- 
ily of  churches  need  most  to  reform  their  systems. 
They  leave  the  churches  too  much  to  themselves; 
and  they  prefer  to  remain  vacant  unless  they  can  se- 
cure a  man  to  their  taste.  They  prefer  to  have  their 
taste  gratified  to  the  enjoyment  of  ordinances.  The 
church  courts  should  supply  them  when  they  do  not 
themselves. 


186       PEEACHEES  AND  PEE  ACHING. 

Limited  plan  of  education.  Pentecostal  examples. 

2.  The  careful  education  and  preparation  of  young 
men  for  tlie  ministry,  as  now  pursued,  we  would  not 
relax ;  the  better  they  are  educated,  other  things  be- 
ing equal,  the  better  for  the  Church.  But  we  would 
wisely  and  judiciously  arrange  a  limited  plan  of  educa- 
tion for  young  men  of  fine  talents  and  piety,  whose  age 
or  circumstances  forbid  a  full  course.  In  the  case  of 
some  persons  of  known  character  and  tried  principles, 
I  would  require  but  little  previous  study  to  authorize 
them  to  preach.  Paul  preached  in  the  synagogue 
that  Jesus  was  the  Christ  a  few  days  after  his  con- 
version ;  and  all  that  received  the  Pentecostal  baptism 
went  out  from  that  "upper  room"  into  the  streets  of 
Jerusalem,  speaking  of  Christ  to  all  with  whom  they 
met.  We  have  not  a  doubt  but  that  Peter  and  the 
other  apostles,  the  private  members,  both  men  and 
women,  on  whom  the  cloven  tongues  rested,  testified 
on  that  occasion  to  Jesus  and  the  resurrection.  And 
if  in  the  apostolic  Church  there  were,  besides  apostles 
and  prophets,  pastors,  teachers,  evangelists,  miracles, 
gifts  of  healing,  helps,  governments,  diversities  of 
tongues,  we  see  not  why  the  Church  in  our  day 
should  not  multiply  its  agencies  from  its  active,  and 
devoted,  and  trustworthy  members,  so  as  to  carry  the 
Gospel  down  to  all  our  people.  There  are  many  el- 
ders, Sabbath-school  teachers,  and  private  members 
of  our  churches  who  can  tell  the  simple  Gospel  story 
to  sinners  equally  well  as  many  who  have  gone 
through  a  full  course  of  training,  and  far  better  than 
many  ordained  ministers !     And  why  should  not  the 


PREACHEES  AND  PREACHING.  137 

Every  talent  to  be  used.  Lay  preachers  useful. 

talent  of  those  be  employed  in  holding  forth  the  word 
of  life  ?  If  God  has  fitted  them  for  usefulness,  why 
should  not  the  Church  authorize  them  to  use  their 
gifts  ?  Or  is  it  better,  like  Moliere's  doctors,  to  kill 
by  rule  than  to  cure  by  innovation  ? 

It  was  by  the  means  of  such  men  that  "Whitefield 
and  Wesley  wrought  such  wonders  in  England. 
Their  "  lay  preachers,"  such  as  John  Nelson  and  How- 
ell Harris,  did  more  for  England  than  did  scores  of 
the  clergy  by  whom  they  were  scorned  and  perse- 
cuted. And  if  useful  then,  why  not  now  ?  The  fact 
is  that  none  should  be  regarded  as  converted  unless 
they  are  so  converted  as  to  be  useful  in  the  conver- 
sion of  others.  And  one  of  the  great  errors  of  our 
day  is  to  use  so  little  the  sanctified  talent  of  the  Church 
in  extending  the  kingdom  of  the  Eedeemer. 

What  objection  could  there  be  to  the  sending  forth 
as  preachers  of  the  Gospel,  lawyers,  physicians,  or 
merchants,  converted  after  twenty-one  years  of  age, 
after  they  have  given  satisfactory  evidence  of  gifts 
and  piety  ?  What  minister  has  not  found  his  most 
successful  school  of  study  to  be  amid  the  active  du- 
ties of  his  parish  ?  We  need  educated  men  who  can 
pour  forth  light  like  the  sun ;  and  we  need  men  who 
can  only  give  light  as  a  candle.  The  masses  of  the 
people  are  not  cultivated  so  as  to  be  instructed  by  the 
careful  preparations  of  educated  men ;  they  prefer  the 
milk  of  the  word  to  its  strong  meat.  And  when  the 
simple  Gospel  is  preached  to  them  by  ordinary  men, 
of  good  sense  and  sincere  piety,  they  understand  it 


138  PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

The  proof.  Lay  talent.  Brownlow  North. 

better,  and  the  more  readily  receive  it.  The  proof  of 
this  statement  we  have  in  the  existing  state  of  things 
all  over  the  land.  The  poor  and  uneducated,  who 
form  the  masses  of  the  people,  are  reached,  not  by 
our  educated,  but  by  our  uneducated  ministry.  We 
would  not  relax  the  efforts  of  the  Church  to  raise  up 
an  educated  ministry,  but  we  would  so  relax  the  rules 
as  to  qualifications  as  to  permit  those  to  be  licensed 
to  preach  who  have  gifts  for  the  work ;  and  we  would 
employ  the  lay  talent  of  the  Church,  so  as  to  reach, 
as  far  as  possible,  our  entire  people.  There  are  pious 
laymen  in  all  our  cities,  who  should  be  occupied,  on 
each  recurring  Sabbath,  in  their  lanes  and  neglected 
avenues,  teaching  the  poor  and  the  wandering  the  way 
to  heaven,  and  compelling  them  to  come  in.  Until 
we  imitate  the  Pentecostal  Church  in  the  holy  zeal  of 
all  its  members,  the  Gospel  will  not,  can  not  be  preach- 
ed to  all  people.  The  Free  Church  of  Scotland  has 
taken  an  important  step  in  the  right  direction  in  the 
case  of  Brownlow  North. 


PEEACHERS  AND   PREACHING.  139 

An  open  question.  Revivals  have  always  been. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

Revivals. — Have  always  blessed  the  Church. — Best  promoted  by  Pas- 
tors. —  Revival  Preachers.  —  Their  Character  and  Influence.  — 
Preaching  the  Truth. — Proper  Training  of  Children. 

Yery  much  has  been  written  upon  the  subject  of 
revivals  of  religion,  and  as  to  the  labors  of  evangel- 
ists, or  "revival  preachers;"  but  yet,  What  are  the 
best  means  to  secure  the  true  spiritual  interests  of  the 
Churches  ?  is  an  open  question.  And  so,  because  of 
the  different  stand-points  from  which  good  men  view 
things,  and  of  their  differing  prejudices  and  feelings, 
it  is  likely  long  to  remain.  And  as  it  is  answered 
will  be  the  course  of  ministers  in  the  churches — con- 
servative, fanatical,  or  changing  the  old  measures  of 
to-day  for  the  new  ones  of  to-morrow,  which  in  their 
turn  become  old,  and  are  laid  aside.  In  the  light  of 
the  past,  a  few  things  may  be  stated,  which,  when 
combined,  may  contribute  somewhat  to  the  settling 
of  the  question. 

1.  Revivals  of  religion  have  blessed  the  Church  of 
God  through  all  its  history.  They  were  frequently 
enjoyfed  under  the  Mosaic  economy.  The  founda- 
tions of  the  Christian  Church  were  laid  during  an  ex- 
traordinary descent  of  the  Spirit.  The  Reformation 
was  simply  a  revival  of  religion  consequent  on  the 
restoration  of  the  Bible,  its  doctrines  and  sacraments, 


140       PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Since  the  Refonnation.  1858.  Pastors. 

to  their  true  position  in  the  Church.  And  from  the 
days  of  the  Eeformation  to  the  present,  every  branch 
of  the  Protestant  Church  has  been  blessed  with  times 
of  refreshing  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  which 
have  been  greatly  instrumental  in  imbuing  the  entire 
Church  with  the  spirit  and  power  which  it  is  now 
manifesting.  On  this  point  there  is  no  need  of  argu- 
ment or  illustration,  as  one  of  these  times  of  refresh- 
ing has  just  passed  over  our  churches,  and  as  some 
of  the  fragments  of  the  cloud  of  mercy  are  yet  linger- 
ing in  our  horizon.  The  Kevival  of  1858  will 
form  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  our  American  Zion. 
It  was  one,  not  of  men,  such  as  Wesley,  Whitefield, 
Edwards,  or  Nettleton — it  was  not  of  measures,  old, 
or  new,  or  questionable  ;  it  was  of  God.  And  so  ob- 
viously was  it  of  God,  that  even  the  scoffing  infidel 
was  awed  into  silence.  We  know  of  none  called  Prot- 
estants who  questioned  its  divinity  save  some  of  the 
Oxford  school,  who  can  demonstrate  with  mathemat- 
ical certainty  that  Heaven  can  bestow  no  spiritual 
blessings  upon  men  save  through  their  very  narrow 
tube. 

2.  Eevivals  of  religion  have  been  best  promoted 
by  pastors.  The  cases  of  Wesley  and  Whitefield  are 
only  exceptions  to  the  general  rule.  Baxter  was  a 
pastor ;  and  so  were  Edwards,  and  the  Tennants,  and 
Simeon,  and  M'Cheyne,  and  Pay  son,  and  Grifl&n,  and 
Eichards,  and  Eice,  and  Proudfit.  Livingstone,  when 
he  preached  at  Shotts,  was  the  chaplain  of  the  Count- 
ess of  Wigton ;  and,  were  it  proper  so  to  do,  the  names 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.        141 

Pastoral  revivals.  Revival  preachers. 

of  living  pastors  might  be  given  to  any  amount,  un- 
der whose  labors  the  most  extensive  revivals  of  the 
last  half  century  have  occurred.  And  wh}^  should  it 
not  be  so  ?  The  farmer  is  the  best  cultivator  of  his 
own  fields ;  and  if  he  breaks  up  and  prepares  the  fal- 
low ground,  and  sows  it  with  good  seed,  he  may  ex- 
pect a  corresponding  crop  in  due  time.  The  shep- 
herd knows  best  the  wants  of  his  own  flock.  The 
most  stable,  strong,  and  efficient  churches  of  this 
land,  and  of  every  other  land,  are  those  which  have 
grown  up  under  the  labors  of  successive  able  and  de- 
voted pastors,  and  who  looked  from  the  fields  of 
grace,  as  from  those  of  nature,  for  an  annual  increase. 
We  know  a  church  whose  history  for  now  nearly  two 
hundred  years  is  interspersed  with  delightful  narra- 
tives of  blessed  revivals ;  and,  as  far  as  our  knowl- 
edge extends,  it  has  never  sought  the  aid  of  revival 
preachers  or  traveling  evangelists. 

Perhaps  it  is  unnecessary  to  say  a  word  which  might 
revive  a  controversy,  now  almost  forgotten,  in  refer- 
ence to  evangelists  and  "revival  preachers."  In  many 
places,  a  few  years  since,  these  were  in  the  ascendant ; 
and  to  oppose  them,  or  to  speak  lightly  of  their  meas- 
ures, when  they  seemed  to  be  doing  so  much  good, 
was  regarded  by  many  as  opposing  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Many  a  good  minister  was  unsettled  because  they  did 
not  admit  them ;  and  many  more,  because  they  did. 
And  what  has  become  of  these  "revival  preachers?" 
An  accurate  history  of  the  most  conspicuous  of  them 
would  have  its  wariiiufr  lessons  for  the  future.     One 


142  PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Their  history.  Their  trade, 

of  them,  at  least,  was  sent  to  state  prison.  Another 
was  deposed  from  the  ministry,  and,  under  an  alias^ 
went  to  the  West,  where  he  died.  Another  was  de- 
posed from  the  Church,  and  died  in  a  poor-house. 
And  where  there  was  piety  at  bottom,  which  prevent- 
ed shipwreck  of  faith,  they  became  imperious,  defam- 
ers  of  their  brethren,  and,  with  scarcely  an  exception, 
have  swerved  from  the  faith,  and  become  the  teach- 
ers of  error.  They  have  unsettled  pastors,  divided 
churches,  degraded,  oftentimes,  the  pulpit  by  their 
vulgar  phrases  and  illustrations,  sown  broadcast  the 
seeds  of  error,  and  have  given  rise  to  a  religion  of  ex- 
citement which  is  to  the  steady  influence  of  Christian 
principle  as  is  the  scarlet  flush  of  fever  to  the  uniform 
glow  of  health.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  these  wander- 
ing stars  have  set  to  rise  no  more ! 

And  the  results  have  been  the  logical  sequences  of 
the  men  and  their  measures.  Some  of  them  devoted 
their  winters  to  getting  up  revivals,  and  the  other  sea- 
sons of  the  year  to  some  worldly  pursuit.  And  they 
made  more  money  in  the  winter  than  through  the  re- 
mainder of  the  year.  One  was  an  evangelist  through 
the  winter,  and  spent  the  remainder  of  his  time  in  cul- 
tivating a  farm ;  another  in  selling  a  receipt  for  mak- 
ing a  compost.  The  greater  the  excitement  they  could 
create,  the  greater  the  demand  for  their  services ;  and 
it  was  said  of  one  that  he  would  labor  for  so  much  a 
head  for  all  he  would  convert !  One  was  offered  by 
a  small  church  seventy-five  dollars  for  a  month's  serv- 
ice.    He  replied  that  he  could  not  convert  sinners  at 


PKEACHERS   AND   PREACHING.  143 

Ruinous  revivals.  Preaching  the  truth. 

SO  cheap  a  rate  as  that.  One  came  into  a  little  church, 
and,  putting  the  pastor  aside,  said  he  could  plow,  sow, 
and  reap  that  field  in  three  weeks.  He  did  so,  and 
added  nearly  one  hundred  to  its  communicants.  It 
has  never  recovered  from  the  blow.  And  an  able 
pastor  of  a  large  congregation,  in  which  there  was  a 
large  revival  under  one  of  these  persons,  said  that 
"  another  such  operation  would  ruin  them  beyond  re- 
covery." Men  who  exhaust  their  sensation  sermons, 
and  anecdotes,  and  measures,  and  metaphors,  in  two 
or  three  weeks,  and  collect  persons  by  scores  into  tH'6 
Church,  and  pass  on,  leave  the  seeds  of  permanent 
difficulties  behind  them.  Devoted  pastors  are  the  best 
promoters  of  true  revivals  of  religion ;  and,  when  ex- 
hausted by  labor,  it  is  far  better  for  them  to  call  in 
the  aid  of  their  surrounding  brethren  than  to  send  to 
Ekron  for  "  professional "  help.  If  men  desire  to  be 
evangelists,  and  feel  that  they  have  a  call  in  that  line, 
let  them  go  where  they  are  needed. 

3.  Spiritual  religion  is  best  promoted  by  the  preach- 
ing of  the  truth.  It  was  by  the  preaching  of  the  truth 
that  the  apostles  uprooted  the  deep  prejudices  of  the 
Jews,  and  dispersed  the  assembled  deities  of  Olympus, 
and  gave  the  mythologies  of  Greece  and  Rome  to  the 
winds  of  heaven.  So  it  was  by  the  preaching  of  the 
truth  that  the  Reformers  turned  Europe  upside  down, 
and  unbound  the  angel  which  ever  since  has  been  fly- 
ing through  the  midst  of  heaven  to  give  the  Gospel  to 
every  creature.  And  in  whatever  country  or  com- 
munity the  Church  has  left  its  first  love,  and  fallen 


144       PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

The  pastors  most  blessed.  A  contrast. 

into  a  formal  state,  it  has  been  revived  by  the  preach- 
ing of  the  truth.  It  was  so  in  England,  in  the  days 
of  Whitefield — in  Scotland  in  the  days  of  Chalmers — 
in  America  in  the  days  of  Edwards.  And  we  find 
the  same  true  as  to  communities.  The  towns  in  Brit- 
ain and  America  noted  for  churches  alive  to  their  re- 
sponsibilities, and  possessing  the  spirit  of  Christ,  are 
those  that  have  been  favored  with  a  succession  of  min- 
isters who  faithfully  preached  the  distinguishing  truths 
of  the  Gospel.  And  it  may  be  laid  down  as  a  general 
rule  that  the  pastors  most  blessed  in  their  labors  in 
the  American  churches  were  those  most  clear  and  dis- 
criminating in  their  presentation  of  truth,  and  most 
strict  in  their  adherence  to  the  order  of  the  Gospel. 
And  so  it  is  now.  The  flashy  Maffits  and  vulgar  rhap- 
sodists  are  but  for  a  day ;  but  such  men  as  M'Cheyne 
and  Nevin,  like  the  rivers  quietly  rising  from  peren- 
nial springs,  flow  on  forever.    The  Eev.  Mr. has 

preached  fifty  years  to  the  same  people ;  not  with  high 
eloquence  or  profound  learning,  but  with  great  sim- 
plicity, and  truthfulness,  and  unction.  Large  addi- 
tions have  been  made  to  his  church ;  many  ministers 
have  been  raised  up  in  it ;  and  it  is  now  flourishing, 
active,  useful,  and  greatly  united,  loving  its  faithful 
shepherd  as  a  father.  The  Eev.  Mr. became  pas- 
tor of  a  not  far-distant  church  in  the  same  state.  He 
commenced  on  a  high-pressure  system,  and  on  one 
occasion  received  one  hundred  communicants.  He 
committed  indiscretions — was  summoned  before  the 
courts— was  dismissed  in  disgrace ;  and  the  church  so 


PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING.       145 

Proper  training  of  children.  The  old  ways. 

wonderfully  revived  was  rent  to  pieces.  The  preach- 
ing of  the  truth,  simply,  affectionately,  earnestly,  is 
the  best  means  of  the  spiritual  improvement  of  a  peo- 
ple. "  He  that  goes  forth  weeping,  bearing  precious 
seed,  will  return  again  with  rejoicing,  bearing  his 
sheaves  with  him." 

4.  The  proper  training  of  children  is  another  effi- 
cient means  of  promoting  the  spiritual  interests  of  the 
Church.  The  old-fashioned  way  of  doing  this  among 
the  Presbyterian  family  of  churches  was  to  send  them 
to  a  school  where  the  reading  of  the  Bible  and  the 
learning  of  the  Shorter  Catechism  were  things  of 
course ;  to  collect  them  morning  and  evening  around 
the  family  altar ;  to  take  them  to  church  on  the  Sab- 
bath ;  on  Sunday  evening  to  have  them  recite  a  part 
of  the  Catechism ;  to  talk  over  the  sermons  preached 
through  the  day ;  to  read,  and  sing,  and  pray  together. 
Eeligion  was  the  rule  and  the  law  of  the  household. 
It  was  from  the  bosoms  of  such  families  as  these  that 
the  Henrys,  the  Watts,  the  Dwights,  the  Leightons — 
most  of  the  living  ministry  of  the  Church — most  of 
the  men  of  probity  and  principle  in  business,  in  poli- 
tics, in  all  the  professions,  have  come  forth.  Is  it  too 
much  to  say  that  home-training  is  not  now  what  it 
once  was  ?  Has  it  not  been  surrendered  for  other  and 
less  efficient  ways  of  bringing  up  our  children  for 
Grod?  Do  Sabbath-schools  and  occasional  revivals 
do  for  our  children,  and  for  the  Church,  what  faith- 
ful training  and  faithful  pastoral  catechising  once  did? 
Sabbath-schools  are  a  blessing  to  the  Church  and  to 

G 


146  PKEACHEES  AND  PKEACHING. 

An  example.  The  churches  most  flourishing. 

the  world.  They  are  a  noble  development  of  Churcli 
life.  But,  if  Christians  trained  their  children  as  did 
the  Jews  of  old,  there  would  be  less  need  for  them. 

I  know  a  church  from  which  a  revival  narrative 
never  went  forth ;  into  which  a  revival  preacher  was 
never  permitted  to  enter,  and  for  years  together,  un- 
der the  faithful  ministrations  of  a  plain  man,  and  the 
faithful  home-training  of  children  by  parents,  there 
was  an  average  addition  of  one  hundred  to  its  com- 
munion. And  the  churches  all  over  this  land  now 
the  most  prosperous,  united,  and  sound  in  the  faith 
of  the  Gospel,  are  those  which  have  clung  to  the 
good  old  ways  of  the  fathers ;  in  which  faithful  men 
have  preached  the  simple  truth,  and  pious  parents 
have  brought  up  their  children  to  fear  God  and  to 
keep  his  commandments.  This  has  been  God's  plan 
from  the  beginning ;  it  should  never  be  surrendered. 


PREACHERS  AND   PREACHING.  1J:7 

A  change.  Long  pastorates. 


CHAPTER  XXL 

Change  as  to  the  Permanency  of  the  pastoral  Relation. — Long  Pas- 
torates.— The  Williams  Family. — Many  ex-Pastors. — Causes. — 
The  Example  of  the  Methodist  Church. — Reformatory  Measures. 
— Deacon  Smith. — The  Ministry  itself. — Examples. — The  fewer 
Changes  the  better  for  Ministers  and  Churches. 

Within  tlie  last  thirty  years  a  great  change  has 
passed  over  the  Church  as  to  the  permanency  of  the 
pastoral  relation.  Like  that  of  marriage,  it  nsecl  to 
be  regarded  as  a  relation  for  life.  It  was  constituted 
with  great  and  prayerful  deliberation.  In  New  En- 
gland "  a  settlement"  was  given  by  the  parish  to  the 
pastor  something  like  the  marriage  dowry  given  by 
parents  to  a  daughter  on  her  wedding,  and  parties 
took  each  other  for  better,  for  worse,  until  death  did 
them  separate.  We  learn  from  the  great  work  of  Dr. 
Sprague — "  Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit" — that 
Dr.  Perkins  preached  in  West  Hartford  for  sixty-six 
years ;  Dr.  Lyman,  in  Hatfield,  fifty-six  years ;  Dr. 
Strong,  in  Hartford,  forty -three  years ;  Dr.  Spring,  in 
Newburyport,  forty -two  years ;  Dr.  Chapin,  in  Weth- 
ersfield,  sixty  years ;  Dr.  Codman,  in  Dorchester,  thir- 
ty-nine years ;  Jonathan  Dickinson,  in  Elizabethtown, 
forty  years ;  Tennent,  in  Freehold,  forty-four  years ; 
Dr.  Buel,  in  East  Hampton,  fifty-two  years ;  Dr.  John- 
son, in  Newburgh,  forty  -  seven   years  ;    and  Jacob 


148       PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHINa. 

Norwich  church.  The  Williams  family. 

Green,  at  Hanover,  forty -four  years.  Dr.  Benjamin 
L©rd  was  pastor  at  Korwich  sixty-seven  years.  A 
few  years  previous  to  liis  death,  Dr.  Joseph  Strong  be- 
came his  colleague,  and  was  pastor  of  the  church  for 
fifty-six  years ;  and  thus,  for  one  hundred  and  seven- 
teen years,  the  church  of  Norwich  had  but  two  min- 
isters, and  was  not  one  day  without  a  pastor ! ! 

The  following  statement  is  probably  without  a  par- 
allel in  the  whole  history  of  the  Church :  The  Kev. 
William  Williams  was  for  fifty-six  years  pastor  in 
Hatfield ;  his  son,  Solomon,  was  fifty-four  years  pas- 
tor in  Lebanon ;  Eliphalet,  the  son  of  Solomon,  was 
for  more  than  fifty  ^^ears  pastor  in  East  Hartford; 
and  Solomon,  the  son  of  Eliphalet,  preached  in  North- 
ampton for  upward  of  fifty  years !  Here  are  father, 
son,  grandson,  and  great-grandson,  each  pastor  for 
upward  of  fifty  }'ears  of  their  respective  churches ! 

But  what  a  change  has  passed  over  the  churches 
in  these  respects !  True,  the  cases  are  many  of  the 
long  and  happy  continuance  of  the  pastoral  relation. 
There  is  at  least  one  church  in  the  land,  and  among 
the  oldest,  which  never  dismissed  a  pastor,  and  whose 
present  minister,  with  eye  undimmed  and  natural 
force  unabated,  must  be  treading  hard  upon  the  fifti- 
eth year  of  his  ministry  over  it.  May  that  apostolic 
chain  never  be  broken !  I  look  around  riie,  and  yet 
see  many  laboring  with  great  success  in  churches 
where  they  commenced  their  labors  fifty,  forty,  thirty 
years  ago !  Within  the  last  year  the  papers  tell  us 
of  very  many  "  quarter  century  sermons"  preached 


PKEACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  149 

Kare  cases.  Example  of  the  Methodist  church. 

in  Presbyterian,  Congregational,  Episcopal,  and  other 
cliurches,  which  in  some  cases  have  been  celebrated 
as  silver  weddings.  But  how  rare  are  such  cases ! 
Of  the  churches  that  spontaneously  present  them- 
selves as  illustrations,  some  of  them  have  had  five, 
some  four,  many  three,  and  very  many  two  pastors  in 
twenty  years.  I  have  known  one  church  with  eight 
ex-pastors ;  I  know  of  many  now  with  five,  four,  and 
three ;  and  those  of  two  are  beyond  computation. 
There  is  one  church  of  a  few  years  of  age  which  has 
had  more  pastors  already  than  another  near  it  has 
had  in  a  century !  In  some  parts  of  the  country  a 
man  is  regarded  as  a  wonder  who  has  been  in  the 
same  church  twenty  years ;  and,  while  a  permanent 
pastorate  is  the  law  of  the. Presbyterian  Church,  its 
ministry  is  nearly  as  changeable  as  is  that  of  the  Meth- 
odist, whose  fundamental  law  requires  a  change  every 
two  years.  But,  while  we  hope  this  thing  is  working 
its  own  cure,  it  may  be  well  to  inquire  as  to  the  causes 
which  have  produced  this  change  as  to  the  perma- 
nency of  the  pastoral  relation. 

1.  There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  the  rule  of  the 
Methodist  Church,  and  the  success  which  has  result- 
ed from  it,  has  contributed  to  the  making  of  it.  An 
uneducated  ministry  needs  often  to  change.  The 
pond  is  small,  and  it  must  soon  run  dry.  People  will 
endure  set  praying  a  long  time,  but  they  will  not  long 
endure  set  preaching.  Hence  the  need  of  change. 
But,  as  the  character  of  the  preaching  among  our 
Methodist  brethren  is  rising,  the  demand  for  a  change 


150  PEEACHEES  AND   PEEACHING. 

Reformatory  measures.  Lecturers. 

in  the  tenure  of  the  ministry  is  becoming  emphatic. 
Thej  are  beginning  to  see  the  need  of  pastoral  influ- 
ence in  their  churches,  and  they  will  have  it.  They 
will  have  a  permanent  pastorate.  The  question  about 
it  is  simply  one  of  time.  It  will  be  worth  more  to 
them  than  all  the  excitement  of  a  new  pastorate  ev- 
ery two  years,  and  all  their  camp-meetings  put  to- 
gether. 

2.  Another  cause  we  find  in  the  reformatory  men 
and  measures  of  the  last  thirty  years.  Perhaps  we 
have  said  enough  as  to  "evangelists"  and  "revival 
preachers."  If  pastors  opposed  them,  they  often  in- 
duced the  people  to  oppose  the  pastor,  and  "  to  drive 
him  away."  If  pastors  admitted  them,  their  sensa- 
tion preaching  gave  the  people  a  distaste  for  the  sin- 
cere milk  of  the  word ;  and  when  there  was  a  return 
to  it,  it  was  loathed  as  light  food.  It  lacked  the  pep- 
per, black  and  red,  the  mustard,  the  high  sj^ices,  which 
made  the  other  so  palatable ;  and  because  the  pastor 
could  not,  or  would  not  supply  these,  he  must  go ! 
And  these  are  like  rum — the  more  they  are  used  the 
more  they  are  required,  until  the  demand  exceeds  the 
supply. 

And  so  as  to  abolition  lecturers  and  preachers.  If 
a  minister  was  not  an  abolitionist,  he  was  worse  than 
a  slaveholder.  He  was  a  dumb  dog — a  hireling ;  and 
unless  he  could  keep  pace  with  the  most  fanatical,  he 
was  behind  the  spirit  of  the  age.  Unless  he  could 
say  "  Amen"  to  the  ravings  of  him  who  said  "  that  if 
he  could  believe  that  the  Bible  tolerated  slaverv,  he 


PREACHEES  AND  PREACHING.  151 

A  restless  spirit.  Too  many  Deacon  Smiths. 

would  deny  its  inspiration,  and  cast  it  into  the  fire," 
he  was  denounced  as  a  Pharisee.  Outside  the  Church 
all  this  would  be  comparatively  harmless ;  but  inside 
it,  and  among  its  ministry  and  membership,  it  could 
only  work  ruin.  It  was  all  the  same  as  to  the  minis- 
ter, whichsoever  side  he  took.  If  he  sided  with  fiery 
reformers,  that  would  unsettle  him ;  if  not,  that  would 
unsettle  him.  Either  way,  he  was  unsettled.  And 
thus  the  churches  became  pervaded  with  a  restless 
spirit,  which  tended  greatly  to  render  true  pastors  un- 
comfortable. "Are  you  going  to  accept  our  call?" 
said  a  shrewd  man  of  the  world  to  a  young  minister 
who  was  just  about  to  be  ordained  over  the  congre- 
gation of  which  he  was  a  member.  "  I  am,"  was  the 
modest  reply.  "Then,"  said  he,  "be  ordained  with 
one  foot  in  the  stirrup;  for  Deacon  Smith  will  be 
down  on  you  unless  you  can  go  new  measures  and 
abolition  up  to  boiling  heat.  He  has  driven  away 
two  ministers  in  two  years,  and  you  can  not  stand  the 
deacon."  He  was  ordained ;  and  he  had  to  take  the 
saddle  and  ride  away,  because  of  Deacon  Smith,  in 
less  than  a  year.  There  are  too  many  Deacon  Smiths 
— men  of  big  feelings  and  little  judgment — who  are 
ever  running  after  the  lo  here  and  the  low  there,  and 
who  are  to  Grod's  ministers  what  the  thorn  in  the  flesh 
was  to  Paul  the  aged.     They  are  great  nuisances. 

8.  Another  cause  we  find  in  the  ministry  itself 
The  idea  of  permanence  does  not  sufficiently  enter 
into  the  consideration  of  accepting  a  pastoral  charge. 
A  settlement  is  needed,  and  the  one  that  first  offers  is 


152  PEEACHEES  AND  PEEACHING. 

Ministers  themselves.  Eeasona  for  change. 

accepted  with  the  hope  of  securing  a  better  ere  long. 
I  know  of  many  pastors,  with  a  field  wide  enough  to 
occupy  all  their  talents,  whose  minds  are  in  this  state. 
And  when  a  church  even  of  very  moderate  ability 
becomes  vacant,  it  is  wonderful  how  many  inquiries 
are  made  in  reference  to  it  by  pastors  who  are  very 
comfortably  and  usefully  settled !  And  it  is  often  sad 
to  hear  the  reasons  they  assign  for  seeking  a  change. 
One  desires  a  larger  field,  when  he  does  not  half  cul- 
tivate the  one  he  has.  The  best  way  of  enlarging  a 
congregation  is  to  take  good  care  of  a  small  one.  An- 
other desires  a  more  intelligent  people,  without  seek- 
ing to  make  his  flock  so.  Another  feels  that  he  is 
not  useful,  and  thinks  that  he  might  be  more  so  in  a 
new  field.  One  says,  my  wife  is  not  satisfied ;  an- 
other, I  want  better  advantages  for  my  children ;  an- 
other, I  want  to  be  nearer  my  friends ;  another,  there 
are  a  few  uneasy  people  in  my  parish ;  another,  I  can 
use  my  old  preparations  in  a  new  field !  A  true  min- 
ister will  be  useful  any  where ;  he  will  endure  priva- 
tions and  oppositions  as  a  good  soldier;  discomforts 
are  a  condition  of  his  being;  and  his  character  is  form- 
ed and  made  known  by  the  manner  in  which  he  bears 
his  crosses.  Tt  is  sufiicient  for  the  servant  that  he  be 
as  his  master. 

The  proverb  is  old  and  homely, but  true,  "A  roll- 
ing stone  gathers  no  moss."  Dr.  A.  was  the  useful 
pastor  of  a  fine  congregation.  He  was  called  to  a  dis- 
tant city,  and  went.  He  was  called  again,  and  went. 
And  he  became  unsettled  in  his  feelings,  and  fond  of 


PEEACHERS  AND   PREACHING.  153 

A  lesson.  The  fewer  changes  the  better. 

change.  He  was  able,  and  eloquent,  and  truly  pious. 
He  changed  six  or  more  times;  and  before  he  died 
he  was  without  charge  for  years :  the  churches  could 
not  depend  upon  him.  And  the  warning  lesson  of 
his  life  to  his  surviving  brethren  is  to  beware  of 
changing  the  pastoral  relation  without  an  all-sufficient 
cause. 

Dr.  B.  was  a  man  of  good  sense,  of  excellent  piety, 
of  fair  abilities,  of  industrious  habits  as  pastor  and 
student ;  he  resisted  many  inducements  to  change. 
He  began  and  ended  his  ministry  in  the  parish  where 
Dr.  A.  could  not  think  of  spending  a  month.  And 
he  died  leaving  a  name  behind  him  whose  fragrance 
is  as  ointment  poured  forth,  and  which  will  be  ever 
embalmed  in  the  history  of  the  Church. 

The  history  of  ministers  and  churches,  if  it  proves 
any  thing,  clearly  demonstrates  that,  other  things  be- 
ing equal,  the  fewer  the  changes  made  by  pastors  the 
better  for  them,  and  for  all  the  interests  with  which 
they  are  connected ;  and  the  less  frequent  the  change 
of  pastors,  the  better  for  the  churches.  The  ablest 
pastors  and  preachers  of  this  country  have  been  those 
who  have  never  changed  their  pastoral  relation,  or 
but  once.  And  of  the  churches  of  this  land  which 
have  a  history,  the  very  strongest  and  most  efficient 
are  those  which  have  had  the  fewest  pastors.  I  re- 
gard with  admiration  verging  upon  worship  the  pas- 
tors who  have  sustained  themselves  among  the  same 
people  for  half  a  century  of  years  in  succession !  They 
are  to  me  among  their  brethren  as  are  old  cedars  of 
G2 


154  PKEACHEES  AND   PREACHING. 

Venerable  patriarchs.  The  snow -ball. 

Lebanon,  the  venerable  patriarchs  of  a  hnndred  gen- 
erations, to  the  smaller  trees  growing  up  around  them ! 
In  the  ministry,  no  less  than  in  the  world  of  nature, 
is  permanence  necessary  to  growth.  It  is  only  the 
snow-ball  that  increases  by  rolling;  and,  however 
large  it  may  grow,  it  disappears  before  the  first  breath 
of  Spring. 


PREACHEES  AND   PREACHING.  155 

Prayer.  A  mistake.  Prayer  in  the  synagogue. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

Prayer,  its  Importance. — Prayer  in  the  Synagogue:  in  the  early 
Church. — How  Prayers  became  long  and  formal. — No  Forms  of 
Prayer  in  the  early  Church. — Liturgies,  their  Rise. — The  Book  of 
Common  Prayer. — Forms  of  Prayer  not  wrong. — Long  Prayers. 
— Object  of  Prayer. — Manner  of  Prayer. — Dr.  Green. — Dr.  Mille- 
doler.— The  Gift  of  Prayer. 

^WE.  proper  2:)erforma7ice  of  public  prayer  ]b  a  subject 
that  must  not  be  omitted  in  a  series  of  essays  on 
"  preachers  and  preaching."  Many  excellent  preach- 
ers are  defective  in  the  gift  of  prayer ;  and  many  are 
poor  preachers,  who  in  prayer  can  converse  with  God 
as  with  a  friend.  Might  not  these  be  equally  good  in 
preaching  and  in  praying,  if  they  cultivated  equally 
the  intellectual  and  the  devotional  ?  It  is  a  great  mis- 
take in  a  minister  to  cultivate  either  to  the  neglect  of 
the  other.  Preaching  is  in  vain,  as  to  the  salvation  of 
men,  without  the  Spirit ;  and  the  Spirit  is  promised 
in  answer  to  prayer.  Hence  the  importance  of  a  right 
understanding  of  the  nature  of  prayer,  in  order  to  its 
right  performance.  And  a  brief  statement  as  to  the 
history  oi public  prayer  is  necessary,  in  order  to  give 
emphasis  to  what  we  have  to  say  on  the  subject. 

Prayer  was  an  important  part  of  synagogue  wor- 
ship among  the  Jews.  At  first  they  were  quite  brief; 
but  they  were  increased  from  time  to  time,  until  they 
became  protracted,  repetitions,  and  burdensome.     In 


156       PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Prayer  in  the  early  Church.  Set  forms. 

the  time  of  tlie  Savior  they  became  an  ostentations 
and  hypocritical  formality,  which,  with  withering 
words,  he  reproved. 

In  the  early  Church  the  prayers  were  so  brief  and 
so  informal  as  scarcely  to  be  noticed  in  the  accounts 
transmitted  to  us  of  public  worship.  The  season  of 
prayer  was  after  sermon.  Standing  and  kneeling  in 
prayer  were  both  practiced,  but  standing  was  the  more 
common  mode.  Praying  with  the  face  to  the  east 
was  a  custom  that  crept  in  from  the  heathen,  who  wor- 
shiped the  rising  sun. 

As  formality  supplanted  spirituality  in  the  Jewish 
Church,  their  prayers  became  long  and  formal,  and 
they  hoped  to  be  heard  for  their  much  speaking.  So 
it  was  in  the  Christian  Church.  Nothing  can  exceed 
the  simplicity  with  which  the  Savior  taught  his  dis- 
ciples to  pray.  But,  as  the  simplicity  of  the  Gospel 
passed  away,  forms  were  substituted  for  the  power. 
Clerical  ambition,  aiming  at  the  debasement  of  the 
people,  discouraged  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures  in 
private,  and  caused  the  reading  of  them  in  public  to 
cease.  Preaching  was  finally  made  to  give  way  to  the 
Mass,  and  thus  for  many  dreary  centuries  the  grand 
duty  of  preaching  the  Gospel  was  given  up.  And  it 
is  yet  thus  given  up  in  the  Latin  and  Greek  Churches, 
save  where  priests  are  compelled  to  a  different  course 
by  the  influence  of  Protestantism. 

There  is  no  evidence  of  set  forms  of  prayer  in  the 
primitive  days  of  the  Jewish  Church ;  nor  can  it  be 
alleged,  with  any  plausibihty,  that  set  forms  were 


PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING.       157 

The  iiOrd' a  Prayer.  Liturgies.  Common  prayer. 

sanctioned  by  Christ  or  liis  apostles.  If 'the  Lord's 
Prayer  was  designed  as  a  set  form,  why  is  it  so  vari- 
ant in  Luke  from  what  it  is  in  Matthew  ?  Why  do 
we  use  any  other  form?  Why  did  not  the  Savior  al- 
ways use  it  ?  Why  is  it  the  apostles  never  used  it  ? 
Why  are  we  commanded  to  pray  with  all  prayer? 
If  forms  were  used  by  the  apostles^  why  is  it  that  not 
a  fragment  of  them  remains  ? 

The  truth  in  the  case  is,  that  liturgies  were  un- 
known in  the  Church  for  three  hundred  years.  Dur- 
ing the  Arian  and  Pelagian  controversies  it  was  deem- 
ed necessary  to  confine  prayers  to  a  form,  which  each 
minister  might  write  for  himself;  soon  the  forms  used 
were  required  to  be  submitted  to  orthodox  brethren ; 
soon  they  were  required  to  be  approved  by  a  synod. 
Different  synods  approved  different  forms ;  and  when 
superstition  supplanted  Christianity  in  the  ninth  cen- 
tury, as  Bishop  Burnet  says,  "  there  were  so  many 
missals,  breviaries,  rituals,  pontificals,  graduals,  an- 
tiphonals,  psalteries,  and  a  great  many  more,  that  the 
understanding  how  to  ofSciate  became  a  hard  piece  of 
a  trade." 

When  the  Eeformation  occurred  in  England  these 
missals  and  breviaries  existed  in  great  numbers  in 
every  diocese.  The  clergy  were  too  ignorant  to  pray 
or  preach  in  a  becoming  manner.  "  The  Book  of 
Common  Prayer"  was  compiled  from  the  different 
missals  so  that  they  might  pray  to  edification ;  and 
the  "  Homilies"  were  prepared  to  be  read  by  the  cler- 
gy who  could  not  write  a  sermon  themselves.     At 


158       PREACHERS  AND  PREACHINO. 

History  of  the  Prayer-book.  Things  indifferent. 

first  the  Prajer-book  contained  many  popish,  errors 
and  superstitions ;  but  these  were  omitted  from  time 
to  time,  until  it  took  its  present  shape  in  1660,  since 
which  time  it  has  remained  without  change  in  En- 
gland. This  statement  is  made  simply  as  a  matter  of 
history,  and  by  no  means  in  a  spirit  of  controversy. 

But,  while  forms  of  prayer  are  without  divine  sanc- 
tion— have  come  into  the  Church  with  a  spirit  of  de- 
clension, and  are  based  simply  on  ecclesiastical  law, 
we  are  not,  therefore,  to  conclude  that  it  is  wrong  to 
use  them.  Some  can  not  preach  without  notes,  while 
to  others  they  would  be  a  great  impediment.  Some 
need  spectacles  to  read,  others  do  not.  There  are 
things  on  which  God  has  not  legislated — which  are 
indifferent  in  themselves,  and  which  persons  may  do 
in  any  of  many  ways,  to  suit  their  weakness,  or  con- 
venience, or  taste.  The  manner  of  prayer  is  one  of 
these ;  and  while  we  prefer  extempore  to  written 
forms  of  prayer,  yet  are  we  far  from  condemning 
forms  in  public  or  in  private,  by  those  who  feel  the 
need  of  them.'  The  rule  holds  as  good  here  as  to  oth- 
er things :  "  Let  every  one  be  fully  persuaded  in  his 
own  mind."  The  great  prerequisite  to  render  prayer 
acceptable  is  to  offer  it  from  a  pure  heart,  and  fer- 
ventl}^  To  forbid  forms  to  those  who  need  them ;  to 
render  them  imperative  upon  those  who  do  not  need 
them,  are  equally  wrong.  But  of  all  prayer,  the  use 
of  forms  is  the  least  devotional  and  interesting,  unless 
offered  with  a  truly  devout  spirit.  And  when  such 
a  spirit  is  possessed,  the  form  as  a  rule  is  needless. 


PREACHEES  AND   PEEACHING.  159 

Public  prayer.  Long  prayers.  Object  of  prayer. 

By  those  who  reject  forms  there  is  not  sufiS.cient  at- 
tention paid  to  the  character  of  public  prayer.  There 
is  but  too  little  said  on  this  matter  in  our  Theological 
Seminaries,  and  but  too  little  attention  paid  to  it  by 
the  great  majority  of  ministers.  And  yet  they  pray 
many  times  where  they  preach  once,  and  give  hours 
to  sermons,  where,  it  may  be,  they  give  minutes  to 
the  matter  of  prayer. 

Some  pray  very  long  in  public.  While  ten  min- 
utes are  far  better  than  twenty,  yet  have  we  frequent- 
ly heard  prayer  half  an  hour  long,  and  in  a  few  cases 
an  hour !  Many  ministers  need  to  be  told  that  they 
are  not  heard  "for  their  much  speaking."  What  is 
called  "the  long  prayer"  very  often  interferes  with 
the  devotion  of  a  congregation  instead  of  promoting 
it.  Newton  says  it  is  much  better  for  a  people  to  wish 
that  the  prayer  had  been  longer  than  to  spend  half 
the  time  in  wishing  it  were  over.  How  often  have 
we  been  prayed  into  a  good  frame,  and  then  prayed 
out  of  it ! 

And  this  is  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  object  of 
prayer  is  forgotten.  It  is  not  to  teach  theology,  nor 
to  recite  it ;  it  is  not  to  lay  before  God  our  supplica- 
tions for,  or  on  behalf  of  all  things ;  it  is  not  to  tell 
God  all  about  his  attributes  and  works ;  it  is  "  to  offer 
up  our  desires  to  God  for  things  agreeable  to  his  will, 
in  the  name  of  Christ,  with  confessions  for  our  sins 
and  thankful  acknowledgment  of  his  mercies."  Long 
prayers  and  sermons  were  a  part  of  our  inheritance 
from  the  churches  of  Great  Britain ;  and  the  pastor 


160       PEEACHEES  AND  PEE  ACHING. 

Rev.  Dr. .  Manner  of  prayer.  Dr.  Green. 

wlio  can  not  succeed  in  reducing  tTie  Sabbatli  services 
to,  at  most,  an  hour  and  a  half,  will  succeed  in  reduc- 
ing his  congregation.    The  Eev.  Dr. is  a  man  of 

great  excellence  of  character.  His  prayers  are  long, 
and  his  sermons  longer.  He  regards  it  as  a  sign  of 
the  degeneracy  of  the  age  that  his  congregation  does 
not  relish  them ;  and  he  feels  himself  as  much  bound 
to  continue  his  long-metre  services  as  he  does  to 
preach  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith.  If  he 
lives  long  enough,  his  congregation  will  be  as  large 
as  was  that  of  Dean  Swift  when  he  thus  commenced 
the  service :  "  Dearly  beloved  Eoger." 

In  preaching,  the  minister  speaks  for  God  to  men ; 
in  praying,  he  speaks  for  men  to  God.  Hence,  in  the 
one  case  as  in  the  other,  he  should  order  his  thoughts 
aright.  He  should  study  simplicity  and  directness ; 
he  should  avoid  circumlocution,  expletives,  and  repe- 
titions. Preaching  in  prayer — figures,  unless  drawn 
from  Scripture — rhetoric,  are  utterl}^  out  of  place. 
It  was  far  more  than  a  doubtful  compliment  paid  by 
a  secular  paper  to  a  minister  that  ''  he  made  the  most 
eloquent  prayer  ever  oflfered  to  a  Boston  audience." 
Undue  familiarity — quoting  poetry — any,  the  most 
distant  approach  to  vulgarity,  should  be  most  carefully 
avoided.  The  words,  manner,  matter,  tones  of  voice, 
attitude,,  should  be  in  keeping  with  the  service  we  are 
rendering  to  God.  One  of  the  most  appropriate  men 
in  prayer  we  ever  heard  was  the  late  Dr.  Green. 
Short,  terse,  always  to  the  point,  putting  the  right 
word  in  the  right  place,  never  wandering  from  the  ob- 


PREACHERS  AND   PREACHING.  161 

Dr.  Milledoler.  The  gift  of  prayer. 

ject  to  be  presented,  and  with,  attitude,  voice,  aspect, 
in  strict  keeping  with  the  service,  he  impressed  all 
with,  the  idea  that  he  was  indeed  a  man  of  God. 
For  many  years,  like  Dr.  Watts  and  other  eminent 
ministers,  he  wrote  a  prayer  to  follow  every  sermon 
he  wrote.  And  one  of  the  most  fervent  in  prayer  we 
ever  heard  was  the  late  Dr.  Milledoler.  None  could 
hear  him  pray  without  having  his  devotional  feelings 
all  excited.  And  if  ministers  attended  more  to  the 
matter  and  character  of  prayer,  they  would  pray  with 
far  more  freedom  and  u.nction,  and  with  far  greater 
benefit  to  their  people.  It  is  only  to  be  regretted 
that  so  little  attention  is  paid  to  this  matter  in  our 
Theological  Schools ! 

After  all,  as  Newton  well  says,  "it  is  impossible  to 
learn  to  pray  by  rule  so  as  to  pray  acceptably."  The 
gift  of  prayer  is  acquired  in  private  communings  with 
God.  As  you  can  distinguish  a  child  from  a  stranger 
by  the  way  they  enter  the  parlor,  so  can  you  distin- 
guish the  mere  formalist  from  the  child  of  God  by  the 
manner  of  their  prayer.  "  He  that  is  much  in  prayer," 
says  Leighton,  "  shall  grow  rich,  in  grace.  He  shall 
thrive  and  increase  most  that  is  busiest  in  this,  which 
is  our  very  traffic  with  heaven,  and  fetches  the  most 
precious  commodities.  He  that  sets  oftenest  out 
these  ships  of  desire,  that  makes  the  most  voyages  to 
that  land  of  spice  and  pearls,  shall  be  sure  to  improve 
his  stock  most,  and  to  have  most  of  heaven  upon 
earth." 

Prayer  in  private  is  the  duty  of  all  men.     Prayer 


162       PKEACHERS  ANP  PREACHING. 

Prayer  the  duty  of  all.  Bad  signs. 

in  the  family  is  the  duty  of  all  heads  of  families. 
Public  prayer,  in  which  the  minister  leads  the  people 
in  the  worship  of  the  sanctuary,  is  a  most  important 
part  of  our  Sabbath  services.  It  should  be  simple, 
scriptural,  fervent,  and  short.  One  of  its  leading  ob- 
jects should  be  to  seek  preparation  for  the  hearing 
of  the  Word  preached.  It  should  not  interfere  with 
the  sermon,  but  prepare  for  it.  It  is  popery  that  puts 
the  pulpit  in  a  corner,  while  it  makes  the  altar  prom- 
inent. It  is  popery  that  multiplies  prayers,  while  it 
sets  aside  preaching.  And  in  the  proportion  that  the 
altar  is  embellished — that  prayers  at  canonical  hours 
are  multiplied — that  the  pulpit  is  put  aside,  are  the 
clouds  of  error  and  the  curtains  of  evening  falling 
around  the  Church. 


PREACHEKS   AND   PREACHING.  163 

The  Church.  Lambs  of  the  flock. 


CHAPTER  XXIIL 

The  Churcli  a  " Flock."— Children  the  "Lambs."— Church  visible 
and  spiritual. — The  Covenant  includes  Children. — General  Care 
for  Children. — Catiline. — Voltaire. — The  Reformers. — Knox. — 
What  the  Pastor  should  do. — Baxter. — Doddridge. — Richmond. 
— Chalmers. — Dr.  Green. — The  successful  Minister. 

How  frequently  and  beautifully  is  tlie  Churcli  of 
God  represented  in  the  Scriptures  by  figures  drawn 
from  pastoral  life,  so  common  in  the  East.  The 
Church  itself  is  a  "flock."  The  children  of  the 
Church  are  the  "lambs"  of  the  flock.  Pastors  are 
shepherds.  Christ  is  the  "Chief  Shepherd."  And 
the  chief  care  of  a  good  shepherd  is  for  the  lambs.  He 
exercises  care  and  vigilance  over  the  entire  flock,  as 
they  are  all  prone  to  stray ;  but  as  the  lambs  are  fee- 
ble, and  soon  grow  weary,  and  need  to  be  often  fed 
and  protected,  he  gathers  the  lambs  with  his  arms,  and 
carries  them  in  his  bosom.  And  the  connection  of 
lambs  with  the  flock  would  seem  to  be  a  scriptural  il- 
lustration of  the  true  relation  of  children  to  the  visi- 
ble Church.  And  the  true  minister  will  attend  to  the 
youth  of  his  charge,  as  the  good  shepherd  attends  to 
the  lambs  of  the  flock. 

The  visible  Church  is  composed  of  true  believers 
and  their  children  ;  the  spiritual,  of  all  who  are  truly 
born  again,  whether  in  heaven  or  in  earth      The  cov- 


164:        PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

The  covenant.  Analogies.  A  universal  impression. 

enant  formed  with.  Abraham  was  inclusive  of  his  chil- 
dren, and  the  children  were  a  component  part  of  the 
Jewish  Church,  and  were  introduced  into  it  by  the 
rite  of  circumcision.  The  rite  has  been  changed ;  but 
there  is  not  an  intimation  that  any  change  has  been 
made  as  to  the  subjects  of  the  covenant ;  that  the  chil- 
dren of  believers  are  to  be  excluded  from  that  visible 
Church.  The  children  of  the  state  belong  to  the 
state,  and  are  cared  for  by  its  magistracy  and  laws. 
The  lambs  of  the  flock  belong  to  the  flock,  and  are 
cared  for  by  the  shepherd.  Who  ever  saw  a  flock 
without  lambs  ?  So  the  children  of  the  Church  be- 
long to  the  Church,  and  should  be  cared  for  by  the 
Church.  It  was  prophesied  of  Christ  on  his  advent 
that  he  would  gather  the  lambs  in  his  arms  and  carry 
them  in  his  bosom.  When  on  earth  he  showed  great 
regard  for  little  children.  He  took  them  in  his  arms 
and  blessed  them.  His  command  to  Peter  was  "  Feed 
my  lambs."  So  that  every  thing  in  the  analogies  of 
nature,  and  in  the  history  of  the  Church  of  God,  and 
in  the  stipulations  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  would 
lead  pastors  to  ceaseless  care  over  the  young  of  their 
charge. 

There  is  obviously  on  the  mind  of  the  race  a  uni- 
versal impression  as  to  the  future  accountability  in 
some  world  outside  of  our  own,  and  there  is  a  corre- 
sponding desire  to  bring  up  children  with  a  view  of 
that  accountability.  The  Hindoo  mother  has  trained 
lier  child  to  worship  her  gods  before  it  can  walk  alone. 
The  Turkish  child  has  learned  that  there  is  but  one 


PREACHEKS  AND   PREACHING.  165 

Turkish  and  papal  children,  A  pastor's  concern. 

God,  and  that  Mohammed  is  his  prophet,  in  its  moth- 
er's arms ;  and,  whatever  is  omitted,  it  is  taught  to 
read  the  Koran,  and  to  pray  to  Allah  at  canonical 
hours.  And  so  the  lazzaroni  mother  of  Naples,  and 
the  beggar  mother  of  Eome,  may  be  seen  at  early 
morn,  in  their  rags,  placing  their  children  before  pic- 
tures and  statues,  and  thus  early  imbuing  their  minds 
with  a  superstition  which,  without  enlightening  or 
reforming  them,  ever  holds  them  in  its  iron  grasp. 
And,  with  all  our  boasted  intelligence — with  all  our 
Sabbath-school  efforts,  and  evangelical  minstrations, 
these  vicious,  erring,  and  abandoned  parents  more 
strongly  attach  their  children  to  their  ancestral  my- 
thology than  do  enlightened  Christian  parents  their 
children  to  the  religion  of  the  Grospel !  While,  as  to 
this,  much  may  be  attributed  to  the  dejDravity  which 
rejects  the  true  and  receives  the  false,  much  more  may 
be  credited  to  the  fact  that  they  begin  with  infancy, 
and  make  their  superstitions  and  ceremonies  a  part 
of  the  warp  and  woof  of  the  minds  and  affections  of 
their  children.  And  why  should  the  most  assiduous 
teachers  of  error,  or  the  most  untiring  propagators  of 
fanaticism  be  permitted  to  exceed  in  zeal  the  follow- 
ers of  Christ  in  bringing  up  their  children  in  the  fear 
and  nurture  of  the  Lord  ? 

Seeing  all  around  him  the  influence  of  early  train- 
ing, and  how  rapidly  children  rush  forward  to  matu- 
rity, and  remembering  the  extent  of  his  commission, 
the  good  pastor  will  devote  much  of  his  time  to  the 
training  of  the  young.     When  Catiline  would  over- 


166  PREACHEES  AND   PREACHING. 

Beginning  with  youth.  Pastoral  attention. 

throw  the  liberties  of  Kome,  he  began  with  the  young. 
When  Yoltaire  would  eradicate  religion  from  France, 
he  began  with  the  schools  and  with  the  young. 
When  the  Eeformers  would  place  a  true  Christianity 
on  an  enduring  basis,  they  prepared  formularies  of 
faith  to  be  taught  to  the  young.  When  John  Knox 
would  make  Scotland  a  model  Protestant  country,  he 
planted  a  school-house  by  the  side  of  every  kirk,  and 
would  have  every  child  of  the  nation  taught  its  duty 
to  Grod  with  the  letters  of  the  alphabet.  Every  per- 
manent reformation  must  commence  with  the  young ; 
and  our  religion  and  civilization  must  be  continued 
by  the  proper  training  of  the  young.  And,  as  every 
succeeding  generation  is  formed  by  the  preceding  one, 
every  minister  should  seek  a  peculiar  baptism  for  the 
youth  of  his  charge.  Parents  and  Sabbath-schools 
may  do  very  much  for  the  young,  but  they  can  not 
do  the  peculiar  work  of  a  minister.  He  places  upon 
them  the  seal  of  the  covenant ;  he  introduces  them 
within  the  circle  of  the  covenant.  He  should  interest 
himself  in  all  that  pertains  to  their  secular  and  relig- 
ious education.  To  nothing  should  he  be  indifferent 
that  enters  into  the  formation  of  their  character.  By 
kindness  and  gentleness  he  should  seek  to  attach 
them  to  himself,  and  in  order  that  he  may  the  sooner 
and  the  more  strongly  attach  them  to  Christ.  Nor 
is  there  a  more  certain  way  of  removing  the  prejudices 
of  irreligious  parents  against  religion,  or  of  softening 
their  asperities,  than  by  proper  attention  to  their  chil- 
dren.    Multitudes  of  such  parents  are  yearly  brought 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  167 

Baxter.  Doddridge.  Legh  Richmond- 

to  the  house  of  God,  and  into  the  Church  of  God,  by 
the  efforts  of  pastors  and  Sabbath-school  teachers  for 
the  spiritual  welfare  of  their  children. 

All  very  successful  pastors  have  devoted  much  of 
their  time  to  the  training  of  the  young.  Thus  did 
Baxter,  whose  success  among  the  young  was  very 
great,  and  who  records  that  their  "friends,  fathers, 
and  grandfathers  fell  into  a  liking  of  piety  by  the 
great  change  wrought  in  them. ' '  Thus  did  Doddridge, 
whose  constant  prayer  was  that  he  might  be  enabled 
to  speak  to  children  so  as  savingly  to  impress  them. 
"This,"  he  says,  "is  perhaps  the  most  delightful  of 
all  the  minister's  labors.  He  has,  indeed,  ignorance 
to  contend  with ;  but  ignorance  is  more  easily  over- 
come than  that  worse  knowledge  of  *  the  counsels  of 
the  ungodly'  which  commonly  belongs  to  more  ad- 
vanced years."  All  reason,  all  experience,  all  Scrip- 
ture concur  in  this:  ^ In  the  "morning  sow  tJiy  seedP 
Thus  did  the  lovely  Legh  Eichmond ;  he  held  a  third 
service  on  Sabbath  for  the  young ;  and  his  biographer 
says  "that  no  part  of  his  labors  were  followed  with 
more  striking  effects.  It  is  remarkable  that  both  at 
Turvey  and  at  Brading  the  first  memorials  of  his  use- 
fulness occurred  in  the  instance  of  children."  Thus 
also  did  Chalmers.  He  worked  his  "parochial  sys- 
tem" mainly  in  reference  to  the  children.  He  aimed 
to  provide  the  way  and  the  means  of  education  for 
every  child  in  his  parish.  One  of  his  teachers  thus 
speaks  of  him ;  "  His  visits  to  my  school  were  almost 
daity,  and  of  the  most  friendly  description.     In  all 


168       PREACHEES  AND  PREACHING. 

Chalmers.  Dr.  Green.  His  method. 

states  of  weather,  and  in  every  frame  of  mind,  he  was 
there ;  depositing  himself  in  the  usual  chair,  his  coun- 
tenance relaxing  into  its  wonted  smile  as  he  recog- 
nized the  children  of  the  working  classes.  Again  and 
again,  looking  round  upon  them  from  his  seat,  his 
eye  beaming  with  peculiar  tenderness,  he  has  exclaim- 
ed, '  I  can  not  tell  you  how  my  heart  warms  to  these 
barefooted  children.' " 

But  few  pastors  have  equaled  the  late  Dr.  Green 
in  his  attention  to  the  youth  of  his  charge  during  his 
ministry  in  Philadelphia.  In  his  preface  to  his  ad- 
mirable "Lectures  on  the  Shorter  Catechism,"  he  says : 
"  While  memory  remains,  the  interesting  scenes  will 
never  be  obliterated  from  my  mind  in  which  I  had 
before  me  the  children  of  the  congregation,  from  the 
age  of  three  or  four  years  to  that  of  ten  or  twelve. 
They  were  counseled,  and  admonished,  and  prayed 
with  in  language  the  most  simple  and  tender  that 
could  be  devised  ;  and  never  did  I  find  the  dif&culty 
so  great  in  addressing  any  other  audience,  or  in  lead- 
ing any  other  devotions,  as  in  performing  these  duties 
for  the  lambs  of  my  flock.  They  were  all  taught  some 
little  forms  of  devotion  suited  to  their  several  ages. 
Some  of  the  youngest  learned  the  Mother's  Catechism, 
but  eventually  they  all  committed  to  memory  that  on 
which  these  lectures  are  founded."  And  those  who 
had  committed  the  entire  Catechism  were  formed  into 
a  Bible-class  which  met  weekly  in  his  study.  The 
Church  has  had  more  eloquent  preachers,  but  it  has 
had  but  few  more  instructive,  laborious,  or  successful 
pastors  than  Dr.  Green.     When  upward  of  eighty 


PREACHERS  AND   PREACHING.  169 

Living  ministers.  An  illustration,  Baxter. 

years  of  age,  he  was  jet  weekly  engaged  in  preparing 
the  teachers  of  Sabbath-schools  for  their  duties  on  the 
Sabbath ;  and  for  clear,  simple  expositions  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, without  any  pedantry  of  learning,  he  had  no 
superior. 

And  the  living  pastors  most  successful  in  their  min- 
istry are  those  who  labor  most  for  the  training  of  the 
youth  of  the  flock  in  the  way  in  which  they  should 
go.  The  aged  are  but  few  in  any  congregation; 
those  in  midlife  are  more  numerous ;  but  the  youth 
are  the  most  numerous  of  any  class.  And  if  the  most 
numerous  and  most  hopeful,  why  should  they  not  re- 
ceive most  pastoral  attention  ?     The  Kev. is  a 

most  pleasant,  social,  and  ready  man.  His  piety  is 
deep  and  joyous.  He  is  a  good,  but  not  profound 
preacher.  He  knows  every  child  in  his  parish ;  he 
calls  them  by  name  in  the  street ;  he  is  constant  in 
his  efforts  to  interest  them ;  he  is  loved  by  them  all. 
Many  of  them  become  hopefully  pious  from  year  to 
year.  His  congregation  is  crowded,  and  by  many 
who  simply  bear  with  him  as  a  preacher,  while  they 
almost  worship  him  because  of  his  blessed  influence 
over  their  children.  And  in  this  day,  when  the  great 
strife  seems  to  be  as  to  who  shall  educate  the  rising 
race,  the  minister  is  hardly  fitted  to  take  the  pastoral 
care  of  a  congregation  who  resolves  not,  as  did  Bax- 
ter, "I  will  often  make  it  my  humble  prayer  that 
God  would  teach  me  to  speak  to  children  in  such  a 
manner  as  may  make  early  impressions  of  religion 
upon  their  hearts." 

li 


170  PKEACHERS  AND   PREACHING. 

The  great  strife.  The  state  and  the  Church. 


CHAPTEK  XXIY. 

Who  shall  educate  the  Children  ? — Duty  of  the  Church. — Sabbath- 
schools. —  Shorter  Catechism.  —  Catechetical  Instruction. — Its 
good  Effects. — The  Men  of  the  Church. — Early  Admission  to  the 
Lord's  Supper. — ^Want  of  Faith. — The  Jewish  Custom. — Early 
Christian  Custom.  —  The  right  Rule.  —  Nonconformists.  —  Com- 
munion in  Scotland. — Ijistances  of  early  Piety. — Cases  of  youth- 
ful Conversions,  and  of  their  joyful  Death-beds. 

We  have  sometliing  more  to  say  concerning  tlie 
duties  of  ministers  as  to  tlie  young — the  lambs  of  the 
flock. 

As  already  intimated,  the  great  strife  of  our  day 
between  sects  and  parties  is  as  to  who  shall  educate 
the  children.  If  the  state  does  it,  it  must  ignore  all 
sects,  and  only  admit  that  on  which  they  all  agree. 
The  papist  objects  to  the  Bible,  and  insists  upon  its 
expulsion  from  the  state  schools.  And  so  does  the 
infidel.  And,  save  where  there  is  an  established  re- 
ligion, it  seems  impossible  to  introduce  into  our  pub- 
lic schools  any  religious  instruction  above  the  mere 
elements  and  first  principles.  Hence,  if  the  youth  of 
the  nation  are  left  to  be  educated  in  our  state  schools, 
they  must  grow  up  in  ignorance  of  the  religion  of  the 
Gospel.     There  is  no  help  for  it. 

And  what  the  state  is  seeking  to  do  as  to  secular 
education,  the  Church  should  seek  to  do  as  to  relis:- 
ious.     Parents  should  be  more  diligent  in  the  home- 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.        171 

Sabbath-schools.  Definiteness.  Its  need. 

training  of  their  children.  Sabbath-schools  should  be 
so  conducted  as  to  supply  the  great  defect  in  the  com- 
mon schools.  The  great  doctrines  of  our  Christianity 
should  be  taught  in  them  with  an  emphasis  and  direct- 
ness which  would  preclude  mistake.  "  Union  Sun- 
day-schools," which,  like  the  "  Family  Testament  of 
the  American  Tract  Society,"  come  as  near  teaching 
nothing  definite  as  possible,  are  only  to  be  endured 
because  of  a  present  necessity.  Instruction  is  weak 
in  its  influence  in  the  proportion  it  is  general ;  it  is 
abiding  in  the  proportion  it  is  definite.  As  a  definite, 
truthful,  logical  formulary,  the  "  Shorter  Catechism" 
is  without  a  rival ;  and  we  would  have  it  driven  into 
the  minds  of  all  our  youth  like  a  nail  in  a  sure  place. 
The  child  taught  that  "  the  chief  end  of  man"  is  to 
glorify  God  and  enjoy  him  forever,  and  that  is  train- 
ed accordingly,  will  grow  up  a  man.  And  all  we 
would  ask  of  those  branches  of  the  Church  which  re- 
ject the  Shorter  Catechism  on  doctrinal  or  sacramental 
grounds,  is  to  form  one  for  themselves  equally  scrip- 
tural, logical,  and  definite.  And  then  the  pastor  in 
each  parish,  like  Dr.  Chalmers  in  Glasgow,  hke  Dr. 
Green  in  Philadelphia,  should  seek,  by  his  own  efforts, 
and  as  far  as  possible,  by  his  own  hands,  to  mete  out 
to  the  lambs  the  sincere  milk  of  the  Word,  that  they 
may  grow  thereby.  A  system  of  youthful  training 
like  this,  faithfully  carried  out  by  all  the  churches  of 
this  land,  in  two  generations,  by  the  blessing  of  God, 
would  make  it  the  dwelling-place  of  righteousness. 
Too  much  emphasis  can  not  be  laid  upon  the  cat- 


172       PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 


Catechetical  instruction.  The  Creed,  The  best  time. 

echetical  instruction  of  the  young.  Superficial  objec- 
tions have  been  made  to  this  by  errorists  and  latitu- 
dinarians,  but  they  are  sophistical  and  empty.  It  ex- 
isted, and  yet  exists,  among  the  Jews.  In  the  primi- 
tive Church  there  was  an  order  of  men  called  Cate- 
chists,  to  instruct  the  candidates  for  Church  commun- 
ion in  the  great  principles  of  religion.  It  was  for  the 
use  of  these  the  "Creed"  was  formed,  called  the  "  Apos- 
tles' Creed,"  though  not  formed  by  them.  Papal  and 
Protestant  churches  have  their  creeds  and  forms  of 
doctrine,  which  are  good  as  far  as  they  are  scriptural, 
and  which  are  useful  in  defining  the  opinions  held  by 
the  churches  which  adopt  them. 

The  time  to  fill  the  mind  with  truth  is  when  it  is 
unoccupied  with  error,  and  not  when  you  have  first 
to  expel  the  error  in  order  to  make  room  for  the  truth. 
Newton's  aphorism  was,  "If  we  fill  the  bushel  with 
wheat  there  will  be  no  room  for  the  chaff."  And  if 
we  would  have  a  decidedly  strong  religious  character 
we  must  begin  with  childhood.  Individuals  are  very 
often  converted  amid  the  activities  of  life  whose  early 
religious  training  was  neglected ;  but  there  is  always 
a  something  wanting  in  them.  The  truth  does  not 
dwell  in  them  richly.  They  are  often  more  impulsive 
than  regular ;  more  propelled  by  excitement  than  by 
principle;  they  fail  in  that  judgment  according  to 
truth  which  gives  solidity  to  character,  and  which 
makes  persons  reliable.  They  but  rarely  grow  up  to 
be  pillars  in  the  Church.  They  often  wander  from 
church  to  church — from  one  denomination  to  another. 


PREACHEES  AND   TKE ACHING.  173 

Flying  artillery.  The  men  of  the  Church. 

Some  of  these  we  have  known  who  belonged  to  four 
different  denominations,  and  who  have  gone  the  round 
of  the  churches.  Some  we  now  know  who  in  a  few 
years  have  been  in  three  churches  and  as  many  differ- 
ent denominations.  They  are  not  rooted  and  ground- 
ed in  the  truth ;  and  their  only  fit  emblem  is  the 
weather-cock,  which  veers  with  every  wind ;  or  that 
peculiar  sea-weed  often  seen  growing  under  water  on 
the  shore  of  the  ocean,  whose  only  use  seems  to  be  to 
indicate  the  direction  of  the  tide.  •  These  form  "the 
flying  artillery"  of  the  Church  militant,  save  that  they 
have  no  cannon,  no  ammunition,  and  always  fly  from 
the  enemy. 

The  men  of  the  Church,  as  a  rule,  have  been  those 
who,  like  Timothy,  have  known  the  Scriptures  from 
their  youth.  And  so  they  are  at  the  present  day. 
Our  ministers,  and  missionaries,  and  elders,  and  active 
church  members  are  those  who  were  taught  to  pray 
in  their  lisping  infancy,  and  who,  in  the  way  of  ques- 
tion and  answer,  have  been  taught  the  truth  from 
their  youfh  up.  Persons  thus  instructed,  when  con- 
verted, are  usually  consistent  and  reliable.  They  are 
not  usually  wandering  stars  in  the  Church.  They 
are  neither  bigots,  formalists,  nor  fanatics.  They 
know  the  difference  between  Christianity  and  Church- 
ianity ;  and,  while  they  love  all  who  love  Christ,  their 
principles  are  to  them  the  rule  and  the  law  of  their 
life.  Perhaps  catechising  as  a  means  of  grace  is  car- 
ried out  more  fully  among  the  Presbyterians  of  Scot- 
land and  Ireland,  than  among  any  other  people ;  and 


174       PEEACHEES  AND  PEE  ACHING. 

Presbyterians.  Admission  to  the  Church.  Differing  views. 

we  know  of  no  people  more  firm  in  tlieir  adherence 
to  their  principles,  more  willing  to  make  sacrifice  to 
maintain  them,  or  more  truly  catholic  toward  other 
evangelical  Christians.  As  a  means  of  grace,  we  as- 
sign a  very  high  place  to  the  pastoral  instruction  of 
the  young  by  catechising. 

A  practical  question  often  arises,  which  not  unfre- 
quently  embarrasses  pastors  and  church  sessions,  as 
to  the  age  at  which  young  persons  should  be  admitted 
to  the  Lord's  Supper.  This  question  will  be  various- 
ly answered  according  to  the  views  which  are  em- 
braced as  to  the  Lord's  Supper.  Those  who  believe 
it  to  be  a  saving  ordinance  would  administer  it  to 
baptized  children.  Those  who  believe  it  to  be  a  con- 
verting ordinance  would  administer  it  to  moral  peo- 
ple of  any  age  after  they  are  able  to  understand  its 
meaning ;  while  those  who  regard  it  as  only  designed 
for  the  converted  are  often  in  great  uncertainty  as  to 
young  persons.  Many  are  faithless  as  to  youthful 
conversions;  many  think  that  young  persons,  after 
their  hopeful  conversion,  should  be  debarred  from 
the  Lord's  table  for  months,  if  not  years,  in  order  to 
prove  their  conversion  genuine.  And  there  are  not 
a  few  pastors  who  deem  the  accession  of  youth  to  the 
communion  of  the  Church  of  much  less  importance 
than  those  in  mid-life  and  in  declining  years.  And 
yet  carefully  prepared  statistics  would  prove  that  the 
most  consistent  and  useful  members  of  our  churches 
are  those  who  were  properly  trained  in  their  youth, 
and  who  were  early  introduced  to  the  Lord's  table 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  175 

The  Jews.  Error.  True  rule.  Instances. 

under  the  ordinary  means  of  grace.  The  Jews  intro- 
duced their  children  to  the  Passover  at  fourteen,  and 
thenceforward  they  were  solemnly  bound  to  keep  all 
the  commandments,  and  to  obey  all  the  instructions 
of  the  law.  In  the  early  Church  the  children  were 
prepared  by  catechumens  for  the  Lord's  Supper.  As 
the  Church  became  corrupt,  and  as  sacraments  were 
multiplied,  the  Lord's  Supper,  from  a  sacrament,  be- 
came a  charm,  a  mystery,  an  absurd  superstition ;  and 
the  wafer  was  given  to  all  who  performed  aright  their 
penances.  In  the  Protestant  Church  the  sacrament 
is  regarded,  not  as  giving  life,  but  food  to  support 
life ;  as  food  for  the  living,  and  not  as  quickening  the 
dead.  Christ  —  not  the  sacrament  —  is  life.  And 
when  persons  give  a  satisfactory  evidence  that  they 
love  Christ,  they  have  a  right  and  title  to  his  table. 
Here  is  the  general  princi23le  which  applies  alike  to 
all  ages.  If  a  child  at  seven  or  eight  years  of  age 
gives  evidence  of  love  to  God,  that  child  has  as  good 
a  right  to  a  seat  at  the  table  of  its  heavenly  as  of  its 
earthly  father. 

Instances  of  very  early  piety  are  very  frequent  in 
the  Scriptures ;  so  are  they  along  the  entire  history 
of  the  Church.  Among  the  Nonconformists  of  En- 
gland and  the  Presbyterians  of  Scotland  they  have 
abounded,  and  do  now.  A  communion  season  in 
Edinburgh,  in  the  church  of  the  late  venerable  Dr. 
Henry  Gray,  will  never  be  forgotten  by  us.  The  aged 
came  first  to  the  tables,  then  the  middle  aged,  and  then 
the  young.     The  aged  were  soon  numbered,  but  the 


176       PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Communion  in  Edinlburgh.  Youthful  piety. 

young  filled  table  after  table,  one  company  coming 
after  another,  like  the  waves  of  tlie  sea.  The  scene 
was  deeply  impressive  and  instructive.  And  it  is  so 
in  many  of  our  American  churches.  The  late  revival 
has  brought  multitudes  of  the  lambs  of  the  flock  into 
the  Church ;  and  in  one  instance  within  our  knowl- 
edge, on  the  same  Sabbath,  forty  from  one  Sunday- 
school  !  And  why  should  it  not  be  so  ?  Jeremiah, 
John  Baptist,  became  pious  in  youth.  So  did  Josiah, 
Daniel,  and  Timothy.  And  so  did  Polycarp,  and  the 
Henrys,  and  Baxter,  and  Doddridge,  and  Neff,  and 
Elliot,  and  Bishop  Heber,  and  Pliny  Fisk,  and  Moses 
Hogue,  and  Samuel  J.  Mills.  We  know  two  excel- 
lent and  beloved  ministers,  one  of  whom  became  a 
communicant  at  seven,  and  the  other  at  nine  years ; 
and  we  know  very  many  admitted  to  the  table  of  the 
Lord  from  nine  to  twelve  years  of. age.  We  received 
to  the  communion  on  the  same  day  a  youth  of  eleven 
years  and  an  aged  person  of  ninety  with  as  much  con- 
fidence in  the  piety  of  the  youth  as  in  that  of  the  aged. 
If  commanded  to  pray  for  the  salvation  of  children, 
why  should  we  be  faithless  as  to  their  conversion  ? 
And  if  giving  hopeful  evidence,  why  should  we  debar 
them  from  the  table  of  the  Lord  ? 

There  was  a  time  when  children  were  hardly  ex- 
pected to  become  pious,  and  when  they  could  not  con- 
fess it  without  suspicion.  That  time  is  happily  pass- 
ing away.  Most  of  the  persons  that  now  become  com- 
municants of  our  churches  are  from  fourteen  to  twen- 
ty years  of  age ;  and  we  fondly  hojDe  the  time  is  com- 


PREACHEES  AND  PREACHING.  177 

Death-beds  of  youth.  The  true  rule. 

ing  when  they  will  profess  Christ  at  a  much  earlier 
period.  Some  of  the  happiest  death-beds  we  have 
ever  witnessed  were  those  of  young  persons ;  and  we 
have  recently  heard  an  experienced  and  excellent 
minister  say  that  a  child  of  his  died  at  the  age  of  four 
years,  of  whose  true  conversion  to  God  he  could  not 
have  a  doubt.  And  we  would  ask  those  who  are 
faithless  on  this  subject  the  meaning  of  the  text,  "Out 
of  the  mouths  of  babes  and  sucklings  thou  hast  or- 
dained strength,"  and  especially  as  it  is  quoted  and 
applied  by  the  Savior. 

The  rule  should  be  to  begin  early  with  the  children; 
to  recommend  Christ  to  their  first  love ;  to  seek  to 
lead  them  to  Christ  by  all  the  means  of  his  appoint- 
ment ;  and,  when  they  give  evidence  of  love  to  Christ, 
to  admit  them  to  the  Lord's  table.  The  command  is 
no  more  imperative,  "Feed  my  sheep,"  than  is  the 
other  command,  "  Feed  my  lambs." 
H2 


178        PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING.   ^ 

The  ministry.  Preachers  not  pastors. 


CHAPTEE  XXY. 

Object  of  the  Ministry.— The  Preacher  and  Pastor  combined.— 
Emblems. — Shepherd,  Parent. — Pastoral  Visitation. — How  per- 
formed.— The  Manner  of  it. — A  model  Pastor. — Visitation  going 
out  of  Fashion. — Baxter. — Matthew  Henry. — Dr.  Miller. — Ex- 
cuses.— A  Portrait. 

The  grand  object  of  the  Christian  ministry  is, 
through  Christ,  to  induce  men  to  be  reconciled  to 
God.  To  secure  this  result,  ministers  are  bound  by 
their  vows  of  of&ce  to  use  their  ability  to  the  utmost ; 
to  be  diligent  in  their  calling,  and  fervent  in  spirit ; 
to  preach  the  Gospel  publicly,  and  "from  house  to 
house;"  to  be  as  faithful  as  pastors  as  they  are  as 
preachers  of  the  Word.  It  is  in  this  way  only  they 
can  prove  themselves  worthy  of  double  honor. 

There  are  some  ministers  who  are  excellent  preach- 
ers— orthodox,  learned,  logical,  impressive,  but  they 
are  no  pastors — that  is,  they  never,  or  but  rarely, 
visit  the  families  of  their  charge,  and  know  but  little 
about  them  save  in  the  general.  There  are  others, 
again,  who  are  excellent  pastors  but  poor  preachers. 
The  first  class  give  an  undue  proportion  of  time  to 
study ;  the  second,  to  visitation.  As  they  are  both 
very  important  parts  of  a  minister's  work,  the  aim  of 
a  minister  should  be  rightly  to  divide  his  time  between 
them,  and  so  as  to  perform  both  duties  well.     As  a 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.       179 

Pastor  and  preacher.  Two  emblems.  Shepherd  and  parent. 

preacher,  lie  instructs  the  congregation ;  as  a  pastor, 
the  individuals  who  compose  it.  As  a  preacher,  he 
announces  the  truth ;  as  a  pastor,  he  inquires  how  it 
is  received.  As  a  preacher,  he  instructs  those  who 
come  to  hear  him ;  as  a  pastor,  he  seeks  out  those 
who  do  not  come,  and  seeks  to  draw  them  to  ordi- 
nances by  the  cords  of  love.  As  a  preacher,  he  has 
to  do  mainly  with  great  general  principles ;  as  a  pas- 
tor, he  inquires  into  the  cases  of  the  members  of  the 
flock,  so  as  to  advise,  reprove,  instruct,  correct,  as 
may  be  needed. 

The  true  emblems  of  a  good  minister  are,  a  shep- 
herd at  the  head  of  his  flock,  and  a  parent  at  the  head 
of  his  family.  The  shepherd  has  an  equal  regard  for 
all  the  flock,  for  the  lambs  as  for  the  sheep ;  he  seeks 
the  wandering,  he  applies  remedies  to  the  diseased; 
he  gathers  the  lambs  with  his  arms ;  he  collects  them 
into  the  fold  at  night,  and  counts  them  as  they  enter, 
so  that  none  may  be  left  without ;  and  he  leads  them 
forth  in  the  morning  into  the  green  pastures  and  be- 
side the  still  waters.  His  care  and  watchfulness  de- 
scend to  all  the  flock.  And  so  the  father  of  a  family 
exercises  special  care  over  every  member  of  it,  and 
seeks,  with  equal  care  and  diligence,  the  best  good  of 
them  all.  He  exercises  a  general  care  over  all,  and 
a  special  care  of  each.  So  that  a  good  minister  should 
care  for  his  people  as  a  shepherd  cares  for  his  sheep 
— as  a  father  cares  for  his  family — as  God  promises 
to  care  for  Israel  when  he  says,  "  I  will  feed  my  flock ; 
I  will  cause  them  to  lie  down.     I  will  seek  that  which 


180  PREACHEES  AND   PREACHING. 

Pastoral  visitation.  Its  benefits. 

was  lost,  and  bring  again  that  whicli  was  driven  away, 
and  will  bind  up  that  which  was  broken,  and  will 
strengthen  that  which  was  sick."  And  if  the  Grreat 
Shepherd  condescends  to  such  duties,  upon  what 
ground  can  under-shepherds  excuse  themselves  from 
them? 

The  duty  of  pastoral  visitation  is  a  most  important 
one  to  pastor  and  people,  and  should  be  diligently 
and  conscientiously  performed.  How,  otherwise,  can 
a  people  know  their  minister  so  as  to  love  him  ?  As 
a  preacher  they  may  respect  him,  but  he  must  be  a 
pastor  to  be  loved  of  them.  And  he  must  be  loved 
to  be  extensively  useful.  How,  save  by  pastoral  visit- 
ation, can  he  know  the  opinions,  feelings,  spiritual 
wants,  or  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  his  people? 
How,  otherwise,  can  he  discover  the  roots  of  bitter- 
ness that  trouble ;  the  besetting  sins,  that  eat  away 
character  as  a  moth  doth  a  garment ;  the  lukewarm- 
ness  that  paralyzes;  the  contentions  that  separate 
brethren  ?  How,  otherwise,  can  he  awake  the  sleep- 
ing, or  warn  the  self-dependent,  or  temper  the  over- 
zealous,  or  comfort  the  mourning,  or  raise  up  the  bow- 
ed down,  or  direct  the  inquiring,  or  visit  the  fatherless 
and  widows  in  their  affliction?  The  preparation  of 
sermons  and  the  preaching  of  them  is  about  one  half 
the  work  of  a  minister,  if  so  much ;  the  other  half  is 
to  be  performed  among  the  people,  going,  as  did  the 
apostle,  "from  house  to  house." 

This  bringing  down  of  pastoral  care  to  the  families 
of  a  congregation,  and  to  the  individuals  of  each  fam- 


PEEACHERS  AND   PREACHING.       181 

How  best  done.  Much  depends  on  the  manner. 

ilj,  is  laborious  or  otherwise,  as  a  pastor  may  make 
it.  Wlien  pursued  as  a  regular  weekly  duty,  it  be- 
comes easy,  and  a  thing  of  course ;  when  pursued  oc- 
casionally, and  in  a  hurried  way,  it  becomes  weari- 
some, and  a  task,  and  of  course  useless.  It  may  as 
well  be  left  undone  when  it  is  done  as  a  task.  When 
the  pastor  is  weary  of  the  work,  the  people  get  weary 
of  the  visit.  But  when  a  pastor,  with  a  heart  full  of 
love  to  his  people,  goes  from  house  to  house  in  a  pleas- 
ant, cheerful,  familiar  way,  to  speak  to  them  of  the 
things  which  concern  salvation,  then- it  is  he  can  most 
effectually  apply  to  individuals  the  great  and  practi- 
cal truths  he  proclaims  from  the  pulpit.  And  thus 
it  is  he  can  best  so  acqiiaint  himself  with  the  wants 
of  his  people  as  to  be  able  to  render  to  each  a  portion 
in  due  season. 

As  to  the  usefulness  of  pastoral  visitation,  very 
much  depends  on  the  way  and  manner  of  it.  Mr.  A. 
is  a  good  minister,  and  wishes  to  be  a  good  pastor ; 
but  he  is  impressed  with  the  idea  that  dignity  must 
be  always  maintained;  and,  before  he  goes  out  to 
make  his  calls,  he  buttons  himself  to  the  chin,  and 
puts  on  his  gloves,  and,  taking  his  dignified  cane, 
with  a  solemn  step  goes  forth  to  his  work.  The  chil- 
dren hear  of  his  coming,  and  fear  it,  and  often  run 
away.  The  parents,  ill  at  ease  in  the  presence  of  a 
pastor  so  starched,  are  glad  when  the  visit  is  ended. 
The  questions  are  formal,  the  answers  constrained. 
The  visit  is  ended ;  all  rejoice ;  but  no  good  is  done. 
These  reverend  Buckrams  do  little  good  any  where. 


182       PEEACHEES  AND  PEEACHING. 

Pastor  and  elder.  Too  formal.  A  model. 

The  Kev.  Mr.  B.  gives  notice  from  his  pulpit  that, 
with  an  elder,  he  will  visit  certain  families  on  a  cer- 
tain day.  Some  rejoice,  and  some  do  not,  on  hearing 
the  announcement.  On  that  day  the  house  is  put  in 
order  for  their  reception.  The  visit  is  formal ;  the 
presence  of  the  elder  is  a  constraint.  Persons  do  not 
like  to  speak  of  their  religious  feelings  before  others, 
while  they  would  open  their  hearts  to  their  pastor 
alone.  This  used  to  be  a  common  way.  It  was  the 
way  of  Calvin  in  Geneva.  But  is  is  too  formal  to  be 
useful  to  the  extent  desirable.  We  have  tried  it  suf- 
ficiently to  pronounce  it  too  formal,  and  as  promising 
far  more  than  it  yields. 

The  Eev.  Mr.  C.  is  an  excellent  preacher  and  a  most 
beloved  pastor.  He  visits  his  families  alone.  He 
gives  two  afternoons  in  each  week  to  the  work,  when 
he  can  conveniently.  His  visits  are  long  or  short, 
according  to  the  circumstances  of  each  family.  He 
prays  with  them  or  not,  as  may  be  proper.  He  is  so- 
cial, familiar,  perfectly  accessible,  and  can  make  reli- 
gious conversation  as  easy  and  as  familiar  as  talk 
about  the  weather.  He  knows  the  name  of  all  the 
children,  and,  taking  the  younger  one  on  his  knee,  he 
examines  the  others  in  the  Catechism.  His  visits  are 
looked  forward  to  with  pleasure,  and  are  hailed  with 
joy.  He  is  the  most  welcomed  of  visitors.  And, 
while  he  is  useful  in  the  pulpit,  he  is  doubly  useful  by 
his  pastoral  visits.     Here  he  is  a  model. 

Is  not  this  very  essential  part  of  ministerial  duty 
going  out  of  fashion  ?     It  was  an  essential  part  of  the 


PKEACHEES  AND  PEEACHING.  183 

Not  fashionable.  IMather.  Baxter.  Henry. 

primitive  ministry,  as  it  is  now  of  our  missionaries  at 
home  and  abroad.  Of  some  of  tlie  early  fathers  it  is 
said  that  they  knew  every  person  in  their  flock. 
Baxter,  himself  eminent  as  a  pastor,  says,  "  Ministers 
should  know  all  belonging  to  their  charge."  Cotton 
Mather  set  great  value  on  this  part  of  his  work.  Al- 
leine  thought  himself  more  u.seful  as  a  pastor  than  as 
a  preacher.  "  I  now  resolve,"  says  Baxter,  "  (1)  to 
take  more  particular  account  of  the  souls  committed 
to  my  care ;  (2)  to  visit  the  whole  congregation,  and 
to  learn  particularly  the  circumstances  of  the  children 
and  servants ;  (3)  will  make  as  exact  a  list  as  I  can 
of  those  that  I  have  reason  to  believe  are  unconvert- 
ed, awakened,  fit  for  communion,  or  already  in  it; 
(4)  when  I  hear  any  thing  particularly  concerning 
the  religious  state  of  my  people,  I  will  visit  them  and 
talk  with  them;  (5)  I  will  especially  be  careful  to 
visit  the  sick.  Lord,  thou  knowest  I  am  desirous  of 
proving  myself  a  faithful  servant  of  thee  and  of  souls. 
Oh,  watch  over  me,  that  I  may  watch  over  them,  and 
then  all  will  be  well."  ''  Acquaint  yourselves,"  says 
Matthew  Henry,  "with  the  state  of  your  pupils'  souls, 
and  then  you  will  know  the  better  how  to  preach  to 
them."  And  Dr.  Miller  said  that  "  the  minister  who 
desires  to  be  useful,  withoiit  being  much  among  his 
people,  will  surely  be  disappointed."  And  this  is 
quite  reasonable.  How  can  a  physician  prescribe  for 
patients  without  examining  each  case?  And  how 
can  a  minister  give  to  each  their  portion  in  due  sea- 
son, but  as  he  understands  their  state  of  mind  ?     And 


184  PREACHERS  AND   PREACHING. 

Three  books.  Neglected.  Icebergs. 

how  can  lie  know  this,  save  by  a  constant  intercourse 
with  his  people  ?  "  The  three  great  books  for  a  min- 
ister to  study,"  said  an  old  Puritan,  "are  the  Bible, 
himself,  and  his  people."  And  the  pastor  who  stud- 
ies his  people  most  is  the  one  who  usually  preaches 
to  them  best.  He  knows  their  mental  cultivation — 
their  weaknesses — their  spiritual  trials,  and  he  will 
adapt  his  preaching  accordingly.  However  excellent 
a  sermon  may  be,  but  little  of  it  is  retained  by  the 
mass  of  hearers ;  and  a  pastor  may  do  a  troubled  sin- 
ner or  Christian  more  good  in  a  private  interview  of 
twenty  minutes  than  by  all  his  sermons  in  a  year. 

That  pastoral  visitation  is  falling  into  neglect  is 
painfully  obvious.  The  complaints  of  the  people  are 
many  and  serious  on  this  point.  We  have  been  told 
by  families  of  high  respectability  that  their  pastor 
had  not  been  in  their  house  for  years,  and  never  but 
when  sent  for.  The  Eev.  E.  is  pastor  of  a  large  con- 
gregation, and  never  even  visits  the  sick  but  when 
formally  invited !  And  he  is  esteemed  accordingly ! 
The  Eev. became  pastor  of  a  large  and  fashion- 
able congregation,  which  worshiped  in  an  elegant 
church,  finely  located.  He  is  a  good  man  and  preach- 
er; and  that  congregation  has  dwindled  away,  sim- 
ply for  the  want  of  pastoral  care  and  sympathy. 
Many  have  gone  into  other  churches  and  denomina- 
tions ;  and  the  young,  chilled  by  his  stately  formality, 
have  wandered  away  from  the  church  of  their  fathers. 
Such  ministers  are  icebergs  in  the  garden  of  the  Lord, 
chilling  every  thing  within  the  reach  of  their  influ- 


PEEACHERS  AND   PREACHING.  185 


Excuses  for  neglect.  The  minister. 


ence.  There  are  already  too  many  of  them;  and 
tliey  are  multiplying. 

From  this  important  department  of  ministerial  duty 
many  excuse  themselves,  and  for  various  reasons. 
Some  say  they  have  no  taste  for  pastoral  duties.  But 
what  has  taste  to  do  with  duty  ?  Others  say  that  they 
have  no  time  for  them.  This  at  once  reduces  them 
to  things  of  little  or  no  importance,  that  may  be  put 
aside  at  pleasure — that  may  be  attended  to  when  we 
have  little  else  to  do.  Yet  others  say  that  their  vis- 
its are  not  acceptable.  This  may  be  so  in  some  ex- 
ceptional cases ;  but,  as  a  rule,  the  visits  of  a  pleasant, 
pious,  simple  pastor  are  received  with  pleasure,  and 
in  multitudes  of  cases  we  have  known  them  to  be  the 
means  of  converting  bitter  opponents  into  attached 
and  reliable  friends. 

Were  we  to  paint  in  words  a  Christian  minister,  we 
would  take  as  our  model  a  kind,  intelligent  father,  in- 
structing, guiding,  and  governing  his  children,  and  so 
as  to  maintain  his  authority,  and  to  secure  their  rev- 
erence and  love.  His  people  are  his  children ;  he  en- 
courages the  desponding — he  warns  the  rebellious — 
he  directs  the  straying — he  instructs  the  ignorant — he 
comforts  the  aged — he  gathers  the  lambs  with  his 
arms ;  he  mourns  with  the  mourning,  and  weeps  with 
the  weeping.  Their  joys  and  sorrows  are  in  a  meas- 
ure his.  Such  a  man,  like  Oberlin — ^like  Felix  Neff 
— like  M'Cheyne — like  Chalmers,  will  triumj)h  over 
all  opposition,  and  will  enthrone  himself  in  the  hearts 
of  his  people.     Our  ministers  of  high  position,  and  nt- 


186  PREACHEES  AND   PREACHING. 

Chalmers  as  pastor.  A  minister  when  great. 

tainments,  and  character,  of  whom  we  rejoice  there 
are  very  many,  should  remember  that  the  most  re- 
markable pastor  of  modern  days  was  Dr.  Chalmers, 
who,  when  preaching  those  sermons  which  have  at- 
tracted the.  attention  of  the  world,  was  not  neglectful 
of  the  poor,  of  the  barefooted  children  of  the  street, 
nor  of  the  servants  of  his  parish.  Never  is  a  minister 
so  great  as  when  he  ministers  to  and  mingles  with  the 
poor.  And  never  is  a  minister  so  little  as  when,  in 
the  pride  of  his  place  or  character,  he  looks  down 
upon  the  poor  as  beneath  his  notice.  To  the  poor 
the  Gospel  was  preached  by  Christ,  and  should  be 
by  all  his  ministers.  The  church  that  overlooks  the 
poor  has  fallen  from  its  first  love.  The  minister  that 
overlooks  them  is  sadly  destitute  of  the  Spirit  of  the 
Savior  whom  he  preaches. 


PEEACHEES   AND   PEE  ACHING.  187 

Singing.  Source  of  trouble.  Of  divine  appointment. 


CHAPTER  XXYI. 

Singing. — A  Source  of  Controversies. — Of  divine  Appointment. — 
Singing  among  the  Jews  and  early  Christians. — Corrupted  in 
Papal  and  Protestant  Churches. — Choristers  and  Organists. — 
The  Mistake. — Artistic  Singing. — Organs. — The  Psalms  to  be 
sung. — Congregational  Singing. — Sitting. — All  should  sing. 

It  may  seem  singular  to  some  to  introduce  the 
topic  of  singing  into  a  series  of  essays  on  Preachers 
and  Preaching.  But  they  must  be  ignorant  of  the 
difficulties  with  which  ministers  have  to  contend  on 
this  subject — of  how  much  singing  has  to  do  with 
the  discord  or  harmony  of  a  congregation.  "We  know 
not  of  a  church  which  has  not  been  excited,  nor  of  a 
minister  who  has  not  been  disturbed,  in  some  way 
or  other,  by  controversies  on  Church  music.  We 
have  a  few  things  to  say  on  this  subject,  addressed  to 
the  common  sense  of  the  ministers  and  members  of 
the  Church  of  Grod. 

1.  It  is  a  divinely  appointed  part  of  public  worship. 
In  it  we  praise  God,  express  our  joy  in  him,  and  our 
gratitude  for  his  mercies.  It  has  been  equally  a  part 
of  natural  and  revealed  religion,  in  all  ages  and  pe- 
riods of  time.  It  was  a  part  of  the  worship  of  the 
heathen ;  it  was  practiced  by  the  people  of  God  be- 
fore the  giving  of  the  law.  We  need  but  refer  to  the 
song  of  Moses  at  the  sea,  to  which  Miriam  and  the 


188       PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Among  the  Jews.  Among  early  Christians. 

maidens  of  Israel  so  beautifully  responded.  After 
the  giving  of  the  law,  God  was  praised  in  the  song 
on  all  great  occasions.  We  need  but  refer  to  the 
songs  of  Deborah,  of  Hannah,  Hezekiah,  Habakkuk, 
Mary,  Zachariah,  Simeon.  When  the  tabernacle  was 
set  up  in  Jerusalem,  the  Psalms  of  David  were  writ- 
ten to  be  sung  in  its  worship.  When  the  Temple 
was  erected,  the  most  elaborate  arrangements  were 
made  for  that  part  of  its  worship  which  consisted  in 
singing,  and  which  was  continued  until  its  destruc- 
tion— ^until  the  dispensation  of  Moses  was  brought  to 
its  close. 

JSTor  did  the  praise  of  God  in  the  song  cease  with 
the  shadowy  dispensation  of  the  law.  Angels  ex- 
pressed their  joy  in  a  song  of  praise  on  the  birth  of 
Christ.  A  hymn  was  sung  by  the  Savior  and  his 
disciples  at  the  close  of  the  institution  of  the  Lord's 
Supper.  Singing  is  especially  enjoined  by  Paul,  Col. 
iii.,  16,  and  Ephesians,  v.,  19.  And  Paul  and  Silas 
made  the  prison  of  Philippi  echo  with  their  songs  of 
praise  at  midnight,  "  and  the  prisoners  heard  them." 
And  we  have  the  testimony  of  Ignatius,  of  Caius, 
Clemens,  Pliny,  Origen,  Augustine,  Chrysostom,  that 
singing  was  a  constituent  portion  of  the  public  wor- 
ship of  God  from  the  days  of  the  apostles  onward  to 
the  fifth  century ;  so  that  singing  in  the  public  wor- 
ship of  God  is  a  divinely  instituted  part  of  public 
worship.  This  has  never  been  very  extensively  or 
plausibly  questioned,  and  for  the  reason  that  our  very 
nature  would  protest  against  it.     Why  was  the  facul- 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  189 

Natural  singing.  Corrupted.  In  Rome. 

ty  of  singing  given  ns  by  God,  unless  to  be  employ- 
ed ?  And  why  was  our  deep  sympathy  with  musical 
harmony  given  us  unless  to  be  gratified?  God  has 
made  nothing  in  vain. 

2.  Singing,  as  a  part  of  public  worship,  has  been 
greatly  corrupted.  In  this  respect  it  has  shared  very 
much  the  same  fate  as  public  prayer.  As  the  Church 
became  corrupt,  prayer  and  praise,  from  acts  of  sol- 
emn worship,  dwindled  down  into  ritual  perform- 
ances. It  was  so  in  the  Jewish  Church.  It  is  now 
so  in  the  Eomish  Church,  where  the  pantomime  of 
the  Mass  has  supplanted  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel, 
and  where  music  as  a  science  has  entirely  supplanted 
devotional  singing.  The  "great  masters"  of  paint- 
ing, of  the  chisel,  of  music,  have  done  more  for  Ro- 
manism than  all  the  fathers,  all  the  popes,  all  the  fab- 
ulous martyrs  of  Alban  Butler  put  together.  Take 
away  the  paintings,  statuary,  and  music  from  the 
churches  of  Eome,  and  there  is  nothing  left. 

Nor  are  Protestant  churches  sinless  on  this  subject. 
This  part  of  the  public  worship  of  God  has  been  very 
much  surrendered  to  organists,  professional  singers, 
and  choirs,  whose  aim  it  is  to  make  it  scientific  and 
not  devotional,  pleasing  to  the  educated  ear,  and  not 
elevating  to  the  affections  of  the  devout  worshiper. 
Indeed,  it  is  mainly  transferred  from  the  people  to  a 
committee  in  the  organ-loft,  which  feels  that  it  has  a 
right  exclusively  to  control  it,  and  which  will  not 
brook  the  singing  of  the  people  lest  it  should  make 
discord !     And  thus,  often,  the  precious  right  of  a 


190       PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Choirs,  Assumptions.  Impertinences. 

Christian  congregation  is  sacrificed  to  the  fastidious 
taste  of  a  few  persons,  not  one  of  whom  may  be  a 
professing  Christian,  and  whose  only  object  may  be 
to  display  their  fine  and  well-trained  voices!  We 
scarcely  have  words  to  characterize  this  desecration 
of  a  divinely  instituted  part  of  God's  worship !  It 
can  not  be  long  endured,  save  where  public  worship 
has  become  a  mere  ritual  service. 

And  the  arrogance  which  leaders  and  choirs  often 
assume  is  noteworthy.  In  one  case  they  stipulate  to 
sing  one  tune  in  which  the  people  may  join,  if  they 
will  refrain  from  singing  save  that  tune !  This  is 
quite  liberal,  when  it  is  known  in  many  other  cases 
the  people  are  told  that  they  have  no  more  to  do  with 
singing  than  with  preaching !  Sometimes  the  organ- 
ist or  chorister  selects  the  hymns  for  the  pulpit,  and 
sends  them  to  the  pastor!  A  pastor  requested  the 
organ  to  be  stopped  when,  in  a  voluntary,  it  was  con- 
tinued five  minutes  be^^ond  the  time  to  begin  public 
worship.  The  organist  locked  up  the  organ  and 
walked  out  of  the  church,  saying  he  would  not  suffer 
such  impertinence !  A  minister  requested  his  chor- 
ister to  select  simple  tunes ;  he  was  told  to  take  care 
of  his  own  end  of  the  church,  and  not  to  interfere  with 
what  did  not  belong  to  him !  A  pastor,  not  able  to 
stand  it  any  longer,  rebuked  the  levity  in  the  choir. 
They  rose  in  a  body  and  left  the  house !  A  minister 
once  preached  kindly  on  the  singing  proper  for  the 
house  of  God,  in  which  he  flattered  the  choir  up  to 
their  deserts ;  he  was  told  by  an  excellent  elder,  who 


PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING.       191 

Pastors  annoyed.  Artistic  singing.  Operatic. 

was  a  member  of  it,  that,  if  lie  preaclied  anotlier  ser- 
mon like  tliat,  he  would  have  no  choir  at  all !  And 
thus,  in  every  variety  of  way,  some  of  the  best  pastors 
in  the  land  are  annoyed  by  organists,  choristers,  and 
choirs,  while  the  people  of  God  are  deprived  of  one 
of  their  dearest  rights,  and  the  praise  of  God  is  re- 
duced to  a  musical  performance !  This — all  this — is 
a  grievous  desecration  of  a  divine  ordinance,  against 
which  the  entire  Church  of  God  should  jDrotest.  Why 
should  singing,  more  than  preaching  or  praying,  be 
given  over  to  mere  performers  ? 

8.  The  great  mistake  as  to  the  singing  in  public 
worship  is  a  desire  to  make  it  artistic.  In  Eome  and 
Paris  people  rush  to  the  churches  to  hear  the  sing- 
ing ;  they  care  nothing  for  the  other  parts  of  the  mass. 
Such  is  the  case  in  many  Protestant  churches,  where 
devotional  singing  has  given  way  to  the  operatic. 
"We  have  heard  of  a  church  in  New  York  where  the 
preaching  is  voted  a  bore,  but  where  fashionable  peo- 
ple resort  to  hear  sacred  songs  sung  by  professional 
singers  from  the  Opera — where  the  singing  costs  more 
than  the  preaching!  How  much  better  is  it  to  go  to 
such  churches,  where  the  praying  and  the  preaching- 
are  mere  accompaniments  to  the  singing,  than  going 
to  the  Opera?  Are  not  such  churches  Sabbath-day 
Opera-houses  ?  The  truth  is  that  we  sacrifice  the  de- 
votional in  the  proportion  we  cultivate  the  artistic  be- 
yond a  given  line.  People  that  know  not  a  note  in 
music  can  sing  the  praises  of  God  so  as  to  excite  their 
devotional  feelinofs,  if  the  tune  is  a  familiar  one.     And 


192        PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Devotional  singing.  Martial.  Instrumental. 

these  form  the  great  majority  of  ordinary  congrega- 
tions ;  and  it  is  in  reference  to  these,  and  not  for  the 
few  cultivated  ears,  that  the  singing  of  congregations 
should  be  conducted.  "We  heard  the  choir  of  the  Sis- 
tine  Chapel,  and  of  St.  Peter's,  and  of  St.  Paul's ;  but, 
as  far  as  devotion  is  concerned,  their  singing  bore  no 
comparison  to  that  we  have  heard  in  Scotch  churches, 
led  by  a  precentor  from  under  the  pulpit,  or  in  a  Meth- 
odist church  when  the  brethren  had  a  good  time. 
The  singing  in  which  most  of  the  people  can  unite 
may  not  be  the  most  tasteful  and  classical,  but  it  is 
the  best  for  the  people ;  it  is  the  most  devotional. 
It  may  grate  upon  the  ears  of  young  misses  from 
boarding-schools,  and  of  young  gentlemen  of  operatic 
tastes ;  but,  because  it  elevates  the  religious  feelings 
of  the  people,  it  is  harmony  in  the  ear  of  heaven. 
When  even  soldiers  are  led  to  the  deadly  breach,  it 
is  always  under  the  inspiring  influence  of  words  and 
tunes  in  which  battalions  may  unite.  If  the  "  Mar- 
seillaise," as  Lamartine  says,  was  to  Frenchmen  as 
"  a  recovered  echo  from  Thermopylae,"  why  should 
not  our  Christian  psalms  and  hymns  be  so  sung  as  to 
be  recovered  echoes  from  Calvary  ?  As  singing  is  the 
part  of  public  worship  designed  to  unite  all  the  peo- 
ple in  concert,  it  is  a  desecration  of  it  to  surrender  it 
to  a  committee  of  artisans  in  the  gallery. 

We  have  nothing  to  say  on  the  controversy  as  to 
the  use  of  instrumental  music  in  public  worship,  only 
that  we  as  highly  approve  of  the  organ  as  did  David 
when  used  as  an  aid  to  the  vocal.     It  seems  absurd 


PREACHEES   AND   PREACHING.  193 

The  Psalmody.  A  Judaizing  yoke.  Congregational. 

to  admit  nothing  to  be  sung  but  tlie  Psalms  of  David, 
and  yet  to  forbid  praising  him  "  with  the  stringed  in- 
struments and  organs."  We  have  but  a  word  to  say 
as  to  the  controversy  about  the  psalms  and  hymns 
that  are  to  be  sung.  Prayer  is  as  much  a  constit- 
uent part  of  public  worship  as  is  praise ;  if  we  have 
liberty  in  prayer,  why  should  we  be  restricted  in 
praise?  When  we  sing  the  truth,  why  shoiild  we 
not  be  as  accepted  as  when  we  pray  the  truth? 
Where  is  it  taught  that  we  must  only  sing  the  one 
hundred  and  fifty  psalms  of  David  in  public  or  in  pri- 
vate ?  While  the  angels — the  sun,  moon,  and  stars — 
the  earth  —  the  sea — fire,  hail,  snow,  and  vapor  — 
mountains  and  hills — fruitful  trees  and  all  cedars — 
beasts  and  all  cattle — creeping  things  and  flying  fowl, 
are  commanded,  each  in  their  way,  to  praise  the  Lord, 
it  does  seem  preposterous  to  confine  "  the  praises  of 
all  his  saints,"  all  over  the  globe,  to  the  one  hundred 
and  fifty  psalms  of  David !  Let  those  sing  them  in 
Eouse's  version  that  can  do  it ;  but  to  require  all  the 
people  of  God  to  do  it  is  a  Judaizing  yoke.  It  is  a 
narrow  prejudice,  and  not  a  Christian  principle.  It 
should  not  be  permitted,  for  an  hour,  to  disturb  the 
peace  or  the  unity  of  the  Church  of  God. 

4.  The  singing  should  be  congregational.  This 
can  not  be  secured  by  singing-schools,  whose  teach- 
ers, like  other  traveling  artists,  are  but  little  worth. 
They  neglect  the  old  tunes,  and  introduce  new  ones ; 
and  when  they  retire  their  scholars  can  sing  neither. 
Nor  can  it  be  secured  by  choirs.     As  the  choir  rises 

I 


19i       PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 


How  to  be  secured.  Sitting.  AU  should  sing. 

in  artistic  skill,  the  singing  sinks  as  to  its  devotional 
character.  It  dwindles  into  a  performance.  All  per- 
sons should  be  tanght  in  our  schools  to  sing,  as  in 
Grermanj.  Singing  should  be  a  branch  of  public  in- 
struction. The  hymn,  and  the  tune  to  which  it  is 
sung,  should  be  printed  on  opposite  pages ;  and,  with- 
out deviation,  the  hymn  should  be  sung  to  the  same 
tune.  Thus,  soon,  the  one  would  suggest  the  other  to 
all  minds.  Who  invented  sitting  in  singing  and  pray- 
ing, we  know  not ;  but  we  hesitate  not  to  pronounce 
it  irreverent  as  a  posture,  and  imsuited  to  the  service. 
A  precentor  rises  when  he  sings.  So  does  a  choir. 
And  why  should  not  the  congregation  ?  While  the 
posture  is  but  little  vv^hen  compared  with  the  spiritual- 
ity, yet  is  it  something.  When  we  sit  we  are  little 
else  than  spectators ;  when  we  rise,  we  take  part  in 
the  service,  and  .^ing  the  better  if  we  sing  at  all. 

As  we  w^ould  have  all  pray  in  the  house  of  God, 
so  would  we  have  all  sing.  Nothing  is  so  adapted 
to  excite  devotional  feelings.  There  never  has  been 
a  revival  of  religion  which  has  not  been  attended  by 
a  great  fondness  for  ringing.  Luther  and  the  Wes- 
leys  knew  the  power  of  singing,  and  made  great  use 
of  it.  It  is  the  most  social  part  of  public  worship. 
In  praying  and  preaching,  one  speaks;  the  rest  si- 
lently unite  ;  but  here  all  concur,  and  stimulate  each 
other.  Singing  will  be  the  employment  of  heaven. 
When  faith  is  lost  in  fruition,  and  hope  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  things  hoped  for,  then  will  our  harps 
and  tongues  be  vocal  with  the  praises  of  God.     Hence 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  195 

All  sing  in  heaven. 

all  that  hope  to  sing  the  praises  of  God  in  heaven 
should  sing  his  praises  npon  earth,  "  teaching  and 
admonishing  one  another  in  psalms,  and  hymns,  and 
spiritual  songs,  singing  with  grace  in  their  hearts  to 
the  Lord." 


196       PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

The  command.  It  is  comprehensive.  The  minister. 


CHAPTER  XXYII. 

The  comprehensive  Command.— The  Position  of  the  Minister.— His 
Advantages  for  doing  Good.— Dickenson.— Chalmers.— The  Con- 
trast.—Dr.  Duncan.— The  indirect  Good  of  the  Ministry.— Un- 
worthy Conduct.— Illustrations.— The  Kind  of  Ministers  we  need. 

The  command  of  our  Savior  to  Lis  disciples,  "  Go 
ye,  therefore,  and  teacli  all  nations,"  is  a  very  com- 
prehensive one.  It  means  not  merely  to  preach  the 
Gospel,  but  also  to  disciple^  to  train^  to  instruct  the  na- 
tions. It  is  inclusive  of  the  civilization  of  the  nations, 
and  hence  true  religion  has  always  led  a  true  civiliza- 
tion in  its  train.  The  one  flows  from  the  other  as 
does  the  light  of  day  from  the  glorious  sun.  And 
as  our  Christianity  takes  the  whole  of  human  life  and 
all  human  interests  under  its  control  for  the  purpose 
of  purifying  and  elevating  them,  its  ministers  ought 
to  be  its  true  representatives.  They  should  seek,  in 
all  proper  ways,  to  promote  the  general  interests  of 
society. 

The  academic  education  usually  pursued  in  prep- 
aration for  the  ministry  places  the  minister  on  a  level 
with  the  best-educated  men  in  the  land.  When  to 
this  is  added  a  regular  course  of  theological  training, 
his  mind  is  quickened  to  the  perception  of  truth  and 
of  moral  distinctions  beyond  that  of  other  educated 
men ;  and  he  has  no  object  to  seek  beyond  the  per- 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.        197 

Teacher  of  truth.  His  influence.  Umpires. 

ception  of  the  truth  and  its  extension.  Truth  is  of 
Grod ;  lies  are  of  the  father  of  lies ;  and  the  minister 
stands  among  his  fellow-men  as  a  disciple  and  teach- 
er of  the  truth,  and  as  a  faithful  follower  of  it,  wher- 
ever it  leads  him.  His  daily  studies  are  the  most 
comprehensive  and  the  most  humanizing  of  any  other, 
as  they  embrace  every  thing  which  has  any  influence 
on  the  present  or  future  well-being  of  the  race ;  and, 
hence,  of  all  the  men  in  a  community,  the  properly 
educated  minister  is  the  best  prepared  to  exert  a  hap- 
py influence  on  all  the  great  interests  of  society.  And 
he  should  seek  to  exert  it  to  the  full.  He  should  be 
as  devoted  to  the  promotion  of  all  moral  institutions 
as  to  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  It  is  only  in  this 
way  he  yields  a  full  obedience  to  the  command  of 
Christ,  to  disciple^  to  instruct  the  nations ;  and  it  is 
greatly  to  be  lamented  that  there  are  so  many  pastors 
of  the  finest  education  whose  influence  is  never  felt 
out  of  the  pulpit,  nor  beyond  the  lines  of  their  own 
parishes. 

We  do  not  mean  that  ministers  should  be  politi- 
cians, but  they  should  be  patriots,  which  mere  politi- 
cians are  not.  They  should  seek  true  views  on  all 
political  subjects ;  but  when  they  become  party  poli- 
ticians they  should  surrender  the  ministry.  They 
can  best  infuse  a  right  spirit  into  politics  by  keeping 
out  of  them.  In  these  things  they  should  be  umpires, 
and  not  partisans. 

They  can  best  promote  the  general  good  indirect- 
ly, and  while  in  the  vigorous  and  legitimate  pursuit 


198  PREACHERS  AND   PREACHING. 

The  way  to  get  influence.  Dickenson.  His  usefulness. 

of  their  one  great  work.  They  should  be  Christian 
ministers ;  it  is  as  such  they  grow  into  the  influence 
which  enables  them  to  promote  all  good  interests 
around  them.  If  they  fail  in  gaining  an  influence  as 
ministers  of  Christ,  they  are  but  rarely  successful  in 
any  other  department  of  doing  good.  A  minister  like 
Witherspoon,  or  Chalmers,  or  Payson,  who  impresses 
the  community  with  a  sense  of  his  sincerity  as  a  min- 
ister of  Christ,  absorbs  the  confidence  of  all,  strikes  his 
roots  deep  in  the  affections  of  all,  and  exerts  a  benign 
influence  over  all  the  great  interests  of  society. 

Perhaps  no  minister  of  his  day  was  more  highly 
honored  or  beloved  than  was  Jonathan  Dickenson. 
His  printed  works  have  taken  a  place  among  our 
theological  classics.  Although  upward  of  fivescore 
years  have  passed  away  since  his  death,  his  name,  in 
the  Church  which  he  served,  and  in  the  Church  at 
large,  is  as  an  ointment  poured  forth.  He  was  not 
only  an  eloquent  preacher,  a  faithful  pastor,  a  labo- 
rious student ;  he  was,  besides,  an  able  controvertist, 
a  skillful  physician,  and  a  most  successful  teacher  and 
farmer !  He  lived  in  a  day  when  there  were  but  few 
to  meet  the  standing  wants  of  society,  and  he  sought 
in  a  way  incidental  to  his  great  work,  and  promotive 
of  it,  to  meet  them  all !  Every  thing  was  subordinate 
to  his  work  as  a  minister. 

Perhaps  there  is  not  a  point  connected  with  the  pul- 
pit, preachers,  or  preaching,  which  may  not  be  illus- 
trated from  the  life  of  Dr.  Chalmers.  His  ministry 
was  a  glorious  one  to  the  Church  and  to  the  world ; 


PREACHEES  AND  PREACHING.  199 

Chalmers.  His  busy  life.  Contrast. 

and  while  it  was  by  his  pulpit  ministrations  lie  made 
the  deep  impression  upon  his  race  which  survives 
him,  and  which  will  survive  the  lapse  of  ages,  yet  to 
what  a  remarkable  degree  did  he  devote  himself  to 
the  promotion  of  the  great  interests  of  society.  We 
find  him  at  one  time  writing  on  Political  Economy, 
to  encourage  Britain  when  dispirited  by  the  Berlin 
decrees  of  Bonaparte;  at  another,  seeking  to  enlighten 
the  world  on  the  best  way  of  improving  the  temporal 
condition  of  the  poor  ;  at  another,  forming  a  penny- 
a-week  society  to  aid  in  circulating  the  Bible ;  at  an- 
other, thundering  in  the  General  Assembly  against 
"  Pluralities ;"  at  another,  following  the  poor  to  their 
wretched  abodes  in  the  most  narrow  wynds  of  Glas- 
gow; at  another,  multiplying  schools  to  meet  the 
wants  of  his  people ;  at  another,  organizing  and  di- 
recting Sunday-schools ;  at  another,  traveling  through 
England  in  search  of  poor-law  statistics ;  at  another, 
defending  the  spiritual  jurisdiction  of  the  Church ; 
and,  when  the  Free  Church  went  forth  from  the  Es- 
tablished, descending  with  a  minuteness  of  detail  to 
every  thing  which  entered  into  its  stability  and  right- 
ful position,  as  if  his  whole  previous  life  had  been 
spent  among  details !  He  permitted  nothing  to  es- 
cape his  notice,  and  he  thought  nothing  beneath  him 
that  could  in  any  degree  promote  the  general  interests 
of  society.  Oh,  what  a  contrast  does  this  great  man 
present  to  many  a  minister  who  would  think  it  un- 
dignified to  go  into  the  streets  without  his  gloves, 
cane,  and  other  regimentals,  and  who  perhaps  has 


200  PEEACHEES  AND  PEEACHING. 

Dr.  Duncan.  Savings  Banks.  Other  institutions. 

never  spent  a  week  in  his  life  in  seeking  out  the  neg- 
lected poor  who  arc  perishing  for  lack  of  the  Gospel 
beneath  the  shadow  of  his  steeple  !  Never  did  unin- 
spired man  preach  Christ  more  fervently ;  never  did 
man  labor  more  to  promote  the  general  interests  of 
society. 

Another  such  instance  we  have  in  the  Kev.  Dr.  Hen- 
ry Duncan,  the  author  of  the  "  Philosophy  of  the 
Seasons."  Of  vigorous  mind — of  the  most  simple 
and  earnest  piety — of  fine  literary  attainments — he 
devoted  himself  to  the  promotion  of  the  general  in- 
terests of  society.  He  labored  to  elevate  and  edu- 
cate the  poor ;  he  was  the  founder  of  Savings  Banks 
for  the  benefit  of  the  poor — institutions  which  now 
exist  co-extensive  with  our  civilization,  and  every 
where  a  blessing,  when  rightly  managed,  to  those 
who  earn  their  bread  by  the  sweat  of  their  brow. 
And  the  time  would  fail  us  to  tell  of  the  ministers  of 
Christ  who,  without  diminishing  their  services  in  the 
pulpit,  have  labored  through  the  press  in  founding 
colleges,  academies,  and  schools — in  establishing  hos- 
pitals, infirmaries,  and  houses  of  refuge — and  who,  in 
founding  Bible,  Missionary,  and  other  institutions  for 
the  evangelization  of  the  world,  have  written  their 
names  on  the  rock  forever.  And  if  all  the  ministers 
of  the  Gospel  have  done  for  the  religious,  moral,  so- 
cial, and  political  benefit  of  society  were  removed, 
what  would  be  left?  If  all  they  have  done,  aside 
from  their  direct  work  in  preaching  Christ,  were  re- 
moved at  once,  it  would  be,  in  effect,  like  the  pouring 


PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  201 

The  great  civilizers.  An  unworthy  life.  Example. 

out  of  the  seventh  vial  into  the  air.  Indeed  they  are, 
at  this  hour,  the  great  educators  of  the  race,  the  great 
civihzers,  as  well  as  evangelizers  of  the  world. 

He  is  a  minister  unworthy  of  his  calling,  and  of  the 
day  in  which  he  lives,  who  lives  only  for  his  parish 
or  for  his  sect;  whose  eye  and  whose  affections  but 
rarely  wander  beyond  his  own  narrow  sphere.  And 
yet  how  many  such  there  are !  The  Eev.  Dr.  A.  is  a 
good,  sensible,  and  pious  man.  He  is  so  esteemed  by 
all.  With  proper  zeal  and  expanded  views,  he  might 
be  greatly  useful ;  but  he  is  satisfied  with  the  perform- 
ance of  the  usual  Sabbath  services  and  of  the  pressing 
parochial  duties.  His  parish  is  his  farm ;  and  even 
that  is  not  well  cultivated ;  and  every  thing  around 
him  is  just  like  him,  only  a  little  more  so.  His  sala- 
ry is  not  paid.  There  is  no  monthly  concert.  The 
Sabbath-school  languishes.  The  church  is  sadly  out 
of  repair.  The  people  are  irregular  in  every  thing. 
There  are  no  good  schools.  The  young  are  wander- 
ing to  other  folds,  and  no  wonder.  And  if  Dr.  A. 
gave  the  time  to  the  general  interests  of  the  people 
that  he  gives  to  smoking  cigars  and  to  listless  loung- 
ing, his  parish  might  be  in  a  flourishing  state,  instead 
of  being,  as  it  is,  rapidly  on  the  decline.  And  such 
ministers  are  far  too  numerous. 

The  Eev.  Mr.  B.  is  a  younger  man,  with  zeal  and 
sympathies,  but  with  narrow  views,  far  more  Jewish 
than  Christian.  His  zeal  has  only  one  direction — his 
own  sect ;  his  sympathies  are  withheld  from  every 
effort  that  tends  not  to  its  increase.  He  co-operates 
12 


202       PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Minister  of  a  sect.  Intolerable.  The  men  needed. 

in  nothing  which  has  only  in  view  the  general  inter- 
ests of  society.  He  is  like  a  wen  upon  the  body,  Avhich 
would  draw  every  thing  to  itself  at  the  expense  of  the 
entire  system.  He  is  simply  the  minister  of  a  sect, 
and  is  alike  unworthy  of  his  calling  and  of  the  age  in 
which  he  lives.  The  most  intolerable  men  of  this  age 
are  these  ministers  of  sect,  who  regard  none  as  minis- 
ters of  Christ  but  themselves — who  regard  no  good 
as  done  save  done  in  their  way,  and  who  would  rath- 
er see  the  world  remain  in  darkness  than  that  it  should 
be  illumined  by  others.  These  are  spots  in  our  feast 
of  charity — clouds  without  rain,  whose  only  object 
seems  to  be  to  obscure  the  bright  shining  of  the  Gros- 
pel  sun,  that  their  feeble  gas-jets  may  be  seen. 

The  Kev.  Mr.  D.  was  an  excellent  parish  minister 
— was  ardently  attached  to  his  own  church ;  but  he 
was  also  a  minister  of  Christ,  and,  with  a  quenchless 
zeal,  sought  to  do  good  to  all  men  as  he  had  oppor- 
tunity. The  cause  of  education,  of  missions,  of  tem- 
perance— asylums  for  the  blind — homes  for  the  friend- 
less— houses  for  delinquents  —  Sunday-schools,  and 
schools  for  the  children  of  the  poor,  found  in  him  a 
zealous  and  constant  friend.  On  all  fit  occasions  his 
voice  was  raised  m  their  advocacy.  His  object  was  to 
elevate  the  race  by  enlightening  them,  and  by  leading 
them  to  a  true  faith  in  Christ ;  and  he  could  rejoice 
in  the  good  done  and  doing,  regardless  of  the  agency 
employed,  if  men  only  were  benefited  and  God  was 
glorified.  And  such  are  the  ministers  the  Church 
now  needs ;  men  in  whose  hearts  the  love  of  souls 


PREACHERS  AXD   PREACHING.  203 

The  zeal  required.  A  triumph  for  the  ministiy. 

rises  far  higher  than  the  love  of  sect ;  men  who  feel 
that  for  them  there  is  no  rest  until  the  Gospel  is 
preached  to  every  creature. 

In  a  clay  when  education  is  raising  the  masses  into 
higher  degrees  of  culture — when  new  powers  are  at 
work — when  incredible  facilities  are  multiplied  for 
the  increase  of  knowledge — when  infidelity  is  assum- 
ing the  garb  of  philanthropy  and  religion — when  the 
world  is  opening  to  our  civilization  and  the  Gospel — 
when  a  humanitarianism  is  every  where  seeking  to 
thrust  itself  forward  as  the  great  Keformer  of  the 
world,  it  becomes  ministers  of  the  Gospel  to  adjust 
themselves  to  the  circumstances  in  which  they  are 
placed.  They  should  not  permit  any  missionaries  of 
error  to  exceed  them  in  zealous  efforts  to  do  good  to 
the  masses,  or  to  go  beyond  them  in  seeking  out  ob- 
jects of  charity.  There  is  not  a  want  of  the  race  that 
they  should  not  seek  to  supply,  nor  an  evil  of  the  race 
which  they  should  not  seek  to  remove,  nor  a  way  of 
doing  good  in  which  their  feet  should  not  be  found. 
The  minister  merely  of  his  pulpit,  of  his  parish,  of  his 
sect,  is  a  very  small  man  in  our  day  of  social  misrule, 
and  of  religious  error,  and  wasting  fanaticism.  It 
would  be  a  glorious  triumph  for  our  ministry  to  see 
them  gathering  around  them  the  stormy  elements  of 
our  social  atmosphere — to  see  them  quietly  conduct- 
ing to  earth  the  lightnings  with  which  its  darkest 
clouds  are  charged,  and  thus  proving  to  the  people 
they  have  benefited  that  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel 
is  yet  "  the  power  of  God."     They  should  not  preach 


204:       PREACHERS  AND  PREACHINa. 

Ministers  should  promote  the  general  interests. 

the  Gospel  less,  but  they  should  more  devote  them- 
selves to  the  promotion  of  the  general  interests  of  so- 
ciety. In  every  right  way  of  benefiting  men  they 
should  do  all  they  can. 


PEEACHERS  AND  PEE  ACHING.       205 

Various  duties.  Helps.  Moses.  Deacons. 


CHAPTER  XXYIII. 

Ministers'  Duties  various.  —  Helps  in  the  Jewish  and  Christian 
Church. — To  be  used. — Chalmer's  Experience. — Parents. — Sun- 
day-schools a  noble  Field. — Districting  Parishes. — The  Eldership. 
— Deacons. — Plans  and  Agencies. — Examples. 

The  duties  of  tlie  ministry  are  very  numerous  and 
very  various.  There  is  not  a  religious,  moral,  or  ed- 
ucational interest  of  the  community  with  which  he 
should  not  have  to  do.  What  the  sun,  the  rain,  the 
dew  are  to  the  products  of  the  earth,  the  ministry 
should  be  to  all  instrumentalities  and  agencies  which 
promote  the  great  interests  of  society.  But  as  God 
makes  use  of  agencies  in  carrying  on  his  government 
— as  civil  rulers  employ  agencies  to  carry  on  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  state — as  shepherds  employ  persons 
to  take  care  of  the  sheep — as  a  father  of  a  family  em- 
ploys many  agencies  in  the  training  of  his  children,  so 
may  the  minister  employ  "  helps"  to  assist  him  in  the 
performance  of  his  many  duties.  Moses  was  assisted 
in  his  work  by  seventy  elders,  to  relieve  him  from  his 
many  burdens.  There  were  many  servitors  in  the 
Temple  to  assist  the  priests.  Deacons  were  appoint- 
ed to  relieve  the  Apostles  from  many  duties  connect- 
ed with  the  founding  of  the  Church,  that  they  might 
give  themselves  the  more  ''to  prayer  and  to  the  min- 
istry of  the  Word."     And  God  has  set  in  the  Church 


206       PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Gospel  helps.  The  minister's  work  to  preach. 

not  only  apostles,  prophets,  and  teachers,  but  also 
"helps,  governments,  and  diversities  of  tongues." 
Nor  can  there  be  any  doubt  that  the  persons  named 
by  Paul  in  the  16th  of  Eomans,  and  to  whom  he  sends 
his  greetings,  and  also  those  named  in  the  4th  of  Phi- 
lippians,  were  lay  believers,  men  and  women,  set  apart 
to  important  services,  "  to  labor  with  him  in  the  Gos- 
pel"— that  is,  to  aid  and  assist  him  in  the  performance 
of  his  duties.  And  if  Paul  needed  and  used  "  helps," 
why  may  not  all  ministers  of  the  Gospel  ? 

It  was  never  intended  that  ministers  should  bear  the 
whole  weight  of  the  duties  of  a  congregation,  no  more 
than  that  the  generals  of  an  army  should  do  all  the 
fighting.  The  pastor  is  the  parochial  head  of  a  par- 
ish, even  as  the  head  is  the  chief  member  of  the  body ; 
and  as  in  a  healthful  body  all  the  members  act  in  uni- 
son with  the  head,  so,  in  a  church,  should  all  the  mem- 
bers act  in  unison  with  the  pastor,  and  in  subordina- 
tion to  him.  This  is  the  way  to  secure  the  best  good 
of  any  congregation,  and  the  moral  culture  of  the 
whole  territory  which  it  occupies.  The  great  duty 
of  the  minister  is  to  jpreacJi  the  Gospel.  To  do  this 
with  acceptance  and  freshness  from  year  to  year,  he 
must  be  a  diligent  student;  and  much  study  and 
much  pastoral  labor  must  indeed  be  a  weariness  to 
the  flesh.  So  Chalmers,  a  man  of  great  muscular 
frame,  found  it.  "I  know  not,"  he  says,  " a  more  ef- 
fectual method  of  making  one's  existence  more  pain- 
fully harassing  and  uncomfortable  than  by  associat- 
ing an  excess  of  pastoral  with  an  excess  of  mental  la- 


PEEACHEKS  AND   PREACHING.  207 

Chalmers'  experience.  Lay  agency.  Parents. 

bor — than  by  combining  in  one  person  a  jaded  body 
with,  an  exhausted  spirit.  One  species  of  fatigue  may 
be  endured ;  but  both  together  are  insufferable ;  and 
when  both  kinds  of  service  are  attempted  in  too  high 
a  degree,  the  quahty  of  both  will  be  most  essentially 
deteriorated."  And  hence  his  plan  of  "  lay  agency," 
so  wisely  devised,  so  effectually  carried  out,  and  so  el- 
oquently expounded  and  defended  in  his  "  Christian 
and  Civic  Economy,"  a  production  worthy  the  study 
of  all  pastors. 

Among  the  first  and  most  important  helps  of  a  min- 
ister are  parents.  These  should  be  instructed  from  the 
pulpit  as  to  their  duties,  and  should  evermore  be  ex- 
horted to  their  faithful  performance.  Parents  who 
faithfully  do  their  duty  to  their  children  are  a  great 
blessing  to  the  Church  and  to  the  state,  and  greatly 
aid  their  pastor.  They  have  the  advantage  of  con- 
stant access  to  their  children,  and  occupy  the  place 
of  authority  and  influence  over  them.  And  when 
they  bring  up  their  children  in  the  knowledge  and 
fear  of  God,  they  are  the  most  important  "  helps"  to 
a  pastor.  And  such  ''  helps"  the  minister  should  seek 
to  make  of  all  the  heads  of  families  in  his  congrega- 
tion. The  neglect  of  their  children  by  even  pious 
parents  is  one  of  the  crying  sins  of  the  Church  in 
this  day. 

Sunday-schools,  rightly  conducted,  are  also  a  great 
auxiliary  to  the  minister.  The  superintendent  should 
be  intelligent,  active,  ready,  kind,  and  truly  pious; 
old  enough  to  secure  respect,  and  yet  young  enough 


208  PEEACHERS  AND   PEEACHING. 

Sunday-schools.  Their  teachers.  To  be  multiplied. 

to  be  spriglitlj,  sympathizing,  and  elastic.  And,  as 
far  as  possible,  tlie  teacbers  should  be  like  him. 
These  make  a  school  attractive,  and  a  rich  means  of 
grace  to  a  church.  They  make  the  spiritual  instruc- 
tion of  the  children  their  great  object,  and  their  con- 
version to  God  their  great  end.  As  ministers  are 
fully  occupied  on  the  Sabbath,  they  can  give  but  lit- 
tle time  to  these  schools ;  but  they  form  a  noble  field 
in  which  to  exercise  the  lay  talent  of  the  Church. 
And  the  reflex  influence  upon  teachers  is  usually  as 
great  as  the  direct  influence  upon  the  children.  They 
who  water  are  themselves  watered.  Usually  the  best 
members  of  the  Church — the  most  reliable  and  liber- 
al, are  the  pious,  devoted  Sabbath  -  school  teachers. 
Their  assistance  in  taking  care  of  the  lambs  of  the 
flock  is  great  beyond  calculation  to  a  pastor.  And 
Sabbath-schools  should  be  so  multiplied  as  to  place 
their  advantages  within  the  reach  of  all  the  children 
of  a  parish.  The  parish  of  St.  John's,  in  Glasgow, 
contained  about  ten  thousand  souls  when  Dr.  Chal- 
mers became  its  pastor ;  according  to  his  own  account, 
many  of  them  were  very  much  neglected.  And  he 
succeeded,  by  parochial  and  Sabbath  schools,  in  a  few 
years,  in  reaching  every  family  in  the  parish,  and  in 
bringing  their  children  under  the  influence  of  moral 
and  religious  instruction.  And  this  he  did  by  a  wise, 
and  systematic,  and  energetic  use  of  the  lay  talent  of 
his  congregation.  Other  things  being  equal,  the  larger 
a  congregation  within  given  limits,  the  better,  if  it  is 
so  organized  as  to  bring  out  into  active  service  all  its 


PEEACHEES   AND   PEEACHING.  209 

A  strong  church.  Dividing  a  parish.  Elders. 

talent  and  ability  for  -usefulness.  One  strong  congre- 
gation is  better  than  two  or  more  feeble  ones,  strug- 
gling for  life,  and  often^  in  conflict  with  one  another. 

The  old  plan  of  dividing  a  parish  into  as  many  parts 
as  there  were  ruling  elders,  and  placing  each  part  un- 
der the  care  of  an  elder,  is  one  that  should  not  be  j^er- 
mitted  to  go  into  disuse.  There  are  cases  of  difficulty 
constantly  arising  that  may  be  thus  adjusted  privately. 
There  are  cases  of  seriousness  that  may  thus  be  dis- 
covered and  directed.  Backsliders  may  thus  be  re- 
claimed. The  frequent  visits  of  a  pious  elder  to  fami- 
lies whose  confidence  he  has  secured,  are  to  them  and 
to  him  a  great  blessing,  and  tend  greatly  to  secure 
their  orderly  walk,  and  to  preserve  them  from  the 
influence  of  temptations  and  error.  A  competent, 
earnest  eldership,  feeling  their  responsibility,  and 
seeking  grace  to  meet  it,  is  a  great  help  to  a  minister, 
while  a  sluggish,  incompetent,  ignorant,  narrow-mind- 
ed, fault-finding  eldership  is  very  much  the  opposite. 
A  minister  surrounded  by  twelve  elders,  pious,  intel- 
ligent, active,  and  open-hearted,  acting  in  concert  with 
him,  form  a  body  of  great  moral  power.  It  is  often 
better  to  have  no  elders  than  poor  ones ;  but  when 
there  is  material  enough  out  of  which  to  make  good 
ones,  they  should  be  multiplied  so  as  to  meet  the 
wants  of  a  congregation  without  overburdening  any. 
They  form  a  most  important  help  in  the  matter  of 
family  visitation,  which  every  pastor  should  seek  to 
employ  to  the  full. 

The  same  may  be  said  as  to  deacons,  whose  special 


210  PEEACHEKS  AND   PREACHING. 

Deacons.  Their  character.  Plans  to  do  good. 

work  it  is  to  take  care  of  the  poor,  and  tlius  to  relieve 
the  ministry  from  that  duty.  The  poor  we  have  always 
with  lis.  To  the  poor  the  Grospel  is  preached.  As  in 
the  days  of  the  Savior,  so  now,  the  majority  of  believ- 
ers are  from  among*  the  poor.  These  have  need  of 
spiritual  instruction  and  of  temporal  aid,  which  the 
Church  is  bound  to  supply ;  and  as  "  it  is  not  reason- 
able that  ministers  should  leave  the  "Word  of  God  and 
serve  tables,"  this  duty,  by  apostolical  authority,  is 
devolved  upon  deacons.  And  these  should  be  mul- 
tiplied to  the  extent  needed  by  the  Church.  As 
might  be  reasonably  expected,  the  poor  are  often  the 
most  exacting  and  complaining  members,  and  the 
most  difficult  to  be  satisfied.  It  is  impossible  for  a 
minister  to  care  for  them  up  to  the  point  of  their  real 
need ;  this  must  be  done  by  such  men  as  were  Ste- 
phen, and  Philip,  and  Prochorus,  men  full  of  faith, 
and  having  a  special  baptism  for  the  poor.  And  of 
the  services  of  such  persons  the  pastor  should  avail 
himself  to  the  full.  And,  as  a  rule,  they  should  be 
intelligent,  active,  prayerful,  liberal,  and  selected  from 
those  in  midlife,  or  under  rather  than  beyond  it. 

A  good  minister  will  be  fruitful  in  plans  of  doing 
good,  in  ways  to  meet  the  wants  of  all  the  people 
among  whom  he  lives.  To  carry  out  such  plans  he 
will  need  suitable  agents ;  and  he  should  seek  so  to 
instruct  his  people  as  to  make  them  suitable  and  will- 
ing agents  for  the  performance  of  every  duty  to  which 
they  may  be  called.  Every  member  of  the  Church, 
male  and  female,  should  be  taught  that  there  is  some 


PEEACHEKS  AND   PREACHING.  211 

Living  members.  The  people  to  be  taught.  Examples. 

work  for  them  to  do  in  building  up  tlie  walls  of  Zion, 
and  then  the  wall  will  be  soon  joined  together  unto 
the  half  thereof  when  the  people  have  a  mind  to  the 
work. 

In  vain  are  members  added  to  our  churches  unless 
thej  are  living  branches  of  the  living  vine.  In  vain 
are  churches  multiplied  unless  they  are  churches  alive 
unto  God.  Every  addition  to  the  Church  should  be 
an  addition  to  the  host  of  God's  elect,  who  are  seeking 
the  regeneration  of  the  world ;  and  every  Christian 
should  be  so  instructed.  Ministers  are  the  primary, 
but  not  the  exclusive  workmen.  They  are  the  direct- 
ors, but  not  the  sole  agents.  And  to  seek  to  do  «//, 
to  the  exclusion  of  the  active  agency  of  the  members 
of  the  Church,  is  a  real  injury  to  both. 

The  Eev.  Mr.  A.  was  a  fervent,  laborious,  and  tru- 
ly excellent  man.  His  sympathies  were  large,  and 
his  efforts  to  do  good  u.ntiring.  He  was  ever  abroad 
among  his  people,  and  was  a  daily  visitor  to  the  hab- 
itations of  suffering  and  sorrow,  doing  a  work  which 
many  of  the  females  of  his  congregation  might  do  as 
well.  As  a  consequence,  he  failed  in  the  pulpit  as  a 
preacher ;  he  became  an  exhorter,  and  not  a  teach- 
er. He  failed  in  health,  and  his  sun  went  down  at 
noon.  He  did  but  little,  because  he  undertook  too 
much. 

The  Eev.  Dr.  B.  is  an  able  and  excellent  man.  He 
is,  on  principle,  opposed  to  the  employment  of  his 
members  as  helps,  because,  as  he  thinks,  it  renders 
them  forward  and  conceited  :  and  he  does  verv  little 


212  PEEACIIERS   AND   PREACHING. 

Lay  effort  discouraged.  Encouraged. 

out  of  tlie  pulpit  himself.  As  a  consequence,  lie  is 
formal  and  stately,  his  people  are  cold,  and  unattract- 
ive, and  uncemented,  and  his  congregation  rapidly  on 
the  decline.  For  his  j)eople  to  meet  for  mutual  ex- 
hortation and  prayer  would  be  on  a  par  with  the  sin 
of  those  of  old  who  offered  strange  fire  before  the 
Lord.  Too  many  such  there  are  whose  only  influence 
is  to  scatter  their  people  and  enfeeble  their  congrega- 
tions. 

The  Eev.  Dr.  C.  is  of  a  different  mind.  He  is  a 
close  student.  He  knows  that  he  can  not  do  every- 
thing, and  he  seeks  to  do  some  things  well.  He 
preaches  nobly.  His  Sunday-schools  are  flourishing. 
He  sets  many  wheels  in  motion,  but  employs  hands 
to  guide  them.  He  is  the  centre  of  a  hundred  hands 
and  minds  moving  around  him.  The  entire  machin- 
ery of  his  congregation  is  of  his  contrivance ;  but  he 
only  retains  the  oversight  of  it.  Feeling  that  active 
devotedness  is  the  best  stimulant  to  personal  religion 
— that  it  calls  graces  into  exercise  which  otherwise 
would  remain  dormant,  he  seeks  to  employ  all  the 
talent  of  his  people  in  efforts  to  do  good  to  others. 
He  seeks  work  for  all,  and  fervently  exhorts  them 
to  its  performance.  He  circumscribes  his  own  work, 
and  does  it  like  a  man.  He  uses  the  power  of  his 
people  to  its  full  extent,  and  his  congregation  is  as 
a  garden  which  the  Lord  has  blessed.  They  all 
work,  and  keep  always  at  work,  and  his  and  their 
influence  is  felt  at  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

Much  of  the  wisdom  and  discretion  of  ministers  is 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.        213 

Ministerial  discretion. 

made  apparent  by  the  manner  in  whicli  they  use  the 
agency  of  their  people  to  assist  them  in  the  discharge 
of  their  manifold  duties. 


214  PREACHERS  AND   PREACHING. 


A  fruitful  tlieme.  Evangelical  alliance. 


CHAPTEK  XXIX. 

Christian  Union.— Yet  an  open  Question.— Too  many  Church  Or- 
ganizations.— Those  of  the  same  Doctrine  and  Order  should  be 
united.— Evils  of  separate  Organizations  magnified.— By  whom.— 
Platform  Liberality.— Ground  for  Variety  of  Opinions.— External 
Unity  Utopian.— Unity  in  Christ.— Unity  with  Diversity.  —  The 
Unity  attainable. — A  Day-dream. 

The  subject  of  Christian  Union — a  more  fraternal 
intercourse  and  co-operation  of  evangelical  ministers 
and  churches — has  been  a  fruitful  theme  of  very  fer- 
vent discussion  for  many  years  past.  Many  and  yerj 
excellent  volumes  have  been  written  on  the  subject. 
It  has  called  forth  in  its  discussion  some  of  the  ablest 
minds  in  the  Protestant  world.  A  volume  of  very 
able  and  eloquent  "Essays  on  Christian  Union"  now 
lies  before  us,  from  the  pens  of  Chalmers,  Balmer, 
Candlish,  King,  Wardlaw,  James,  Symington — names 
known,  and  revered  in  all  the  earth.  From  year  to 
year,  the  "Evangelical  Alliance,"  under  the  lead  of 
Sir  Culling  Eardley,  has  given  us  eloquent  debates 
and  elaborate  essays  on  the  subject ;  and  yet  the  great 
questions  involved  are,  practically,  in  the  same  dim 
twilight  in  which  they  were  a  quarter  of  a  century 
ago.  Many  platforms  have  been  erected,  but  who 
have  ascended  them?  Many  plans  have  been  form- 
ed, but  who.  have  adopted  them  ?  And  while  the 
tone  of  controversy  is  milder,  and  the  sectarian  spirit 


PREACHERS   AND   PREACHING.  215 

An  open  question.  Subdivisions  needless. 

is  less  bitter,  and  co-operation  in  plans  and  works  of 
benevolence  is  more  extensive  tlian  formerly,  yet 
who  can  say  tliat  the  Presbyterian,  Baptist,  Method- 
ist, Episcopalian,  are  now  less  attached  to  their  pecu- 
liarities than  formerly.  And  the  question  as  to 
Christian  union  among  ministers  is  one  which  we 
have  daily  to  meet,  as  if  a  speech  were  never  made, 
nor  a  volume  ever  written  on  the  subject.  Indeed, 
the  way  in  which  it  has  been  often  discussed  has  tend- 
ed rather  to  repel  than  to  attract — to  widen  rather 
than  to  diminish  the  space  which  separates  us.  In- 
stead of  going  into  a  discussion  upon  this  subject,  we 
have  only  to  suggest  a  few  practical  thoughts  in  ref- 
erence to  it. 

1.  There  are  many  more  Church  organizations  than 
there  ought  to  be.  When  they  agree,  in  the  main, 
in  doctrine  and  order,  why  should  there  be  six  or 
eight  Presbyterian  bodies,  and  as  many  Methodist 
and  Baptist?  Whatever  excuse  might  be  made 
for  these  subdivisions  in  Europe,  there  is  no  reason 
why  they  should  be  transmitted  here.  Prejudice,  and 
passion,  and  attachment  to  party  shibboleths  have  had 
much  more  to  do  with  these  subdivisions  than  princi- 
ple. There  should  be  a  coming  together  of  those  bod- 
ies between  which  there  is  a  substantial  agreement  in 
doctrine  and  in  order.  Questions  as  to  psalm-singing, 
or  as  to  the  civil  magistrate,  or  as  to  the  metaphysics 
of  theology,  should  not  keep  them  apart.  Nor  should 
the  names  of  Dutch,  Irish,  Scotch,  or  German.  These 
names  should  be  all  absorbed  in  the  name  American^ 


216  PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Absorption.  Evils  magnified.  Platform  liberality. 

as  are  the  rivers  by  the  sea,  which  receives  and  salts 
them  all. 

2.  The  evils  of  many  separate  Church  organizations 
are  greatly  magnified.     And  this  is  done  by  two  class- 
es of  people ;  first,  by  those  who,  like  the  Papists  and 
Puseyites,  have  a  Procrustes  bed  by  which  to  shorten 
or  stretch  every  body  to  the  canonical  dimensions; 
and,  secondly,  by  platform  orators^  who,  for  personal 
ends,  declaim  against  party  spirit,  and  laud  a  catholic 
Christianity.     The  man  who  goes  into  the  pulpit  or 
who  ascends  the  platform  bristling  with  his  peculiar- 
ities, is  justly  regarded  as  a  bigot,  and  is  treated  as 
such ;  and  to  shun  the  imputation,  these  platform  or- 
ators magnify  the  evils  of  sectarianism,  and  laud  cath- 
olic Christianity.     And  yet  some  of  these  will  go  from 
the  platform  to  the  pulpit,  and  will  exclude  all  from 
the  ministry  save  those  set  apart  to  that  work  as 
themselves ;  and  will  go  to  the  communion-table,  and 
exclude  from  it  all  save  those  baptized  with  their 
baptism ;  and  will  go  out  among  the  members  of  other 
churches,  and  ply  them  with  arguments  in  order  to 
convert  them  to  their  Church!     Indeed,  one  of  the 
most  thorough  partisans  of  this  land  is  one  that  has 
never  let  slip  an  opportunity  to  talk  of  his  catholic 
views,  and  who  has  run  up  and  down  the  scale  of 
Church  opinions  so  often  as  to  lose  the  confidence  both 
of  the  bigoted  and  the  consistently  liberal.     "We  nev- 
er hear  truly  liberal  men  vaunting  their  liberality,  and 
those  who  make  it  their  trade  follow  it  for  the  profit. 
For  myself,  I  would  be  ashamed  to  be  heard  claim- 


PREACHEES  AND  PREACHING.  217 

Duplicity.  Diversity.  Separation  not  schism. 

ing  credit  for  my  catholicity  by  declaiming  on  anni- 
versary platforms  as  to  my  readiness  to  admit  that 
other  Christians  have  as  good  a  title  to  be  considered 
a  fellow-citizen  with  the  saints  as  I  have — a  sentiment 
which  every  old  woman  in  the  land  who  has  tasted 
that  the  Lord  is  gracious  holds  as  a  first  principle. 
And  yet  this  is  the  only  claim  which  many  popular 
declaimers  have  to  Christian  liberality.  Never  is  big- 
otry so  detestable  as  when  it  looks  out  from  beneath 
the  veil  of  an  angel. 

After  all,  what  are  the  evils  resulting  to  the  world 
from  the  existence  of  the  Presbyterian,  Episcopal, 
Baptist,  Congregational  churches?  Who  can  prove 
that  the  world  would  be  better  if  we  were  all  acting 
under  one  organization  ?  or  that  it  would  be  better 
for  us  to  live  together  in  discord,  than  to  live  sepa- 
rately in  peace?  There  is  a  foundation  in  human 
nature  for  diversity  of  opinions.  We  are  no  more 
made  to  believe  alike  than  to  look  alike ;  and  when 
there  is  such  diversity  of  views  as  to  prevent  persons 
dwelling  together  in  unity,  separation  becomes  a  duty. 
Separation  is  not  schism.  And  there  was  no  more 
sin  in  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  going  out  from 
the  Establishment  when  the  people  could  no  longer 
agree,  than  there  was  in  the  separation  of  Abraham 
and  Lot.  If  the  twelve  tribes  were  all  the  tribes  of 
Israel — if  the  varied  battalions  ranged  under  their 
separate  banners  make  but  one  army,  why  may  not 
the  different  evangelical  churches  be  all  component 
parts  of  the  Church  of  Christ  ? 
K 


218  PREACHEES  AND   PREACHING. 

The  mourners.  Where  is  union  ?  The  oneness  of  Christ. 

8.  Those  who  mourn  most  over  the  evils  resulting 
from  the  want  of  external  unity  are  those  who  mourn 
that  all  persons  do  not  think  with  them !  If  all  be- 
lieved in  apostolical  succession,  or  in  the  supremacy 
of  the  Pope,  or  in  baptism  by  immersion,  what  a  hap- 
py and  successful  life  might  the  Church  lead !  And 
some  branches  of  the  Church  are  gravely  invited  to 
drop  their  own  peculiarities  and  to  accept  of  those  of 
others  for  the  sake  of  external  union !  If  we  would 
all  only  submit  to  immersion,  and  become  Baptists! 
If  we  would  all  only  receive  ordination  from  bishops, 
and  believe  in  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons !  The  ex- 
ternal union  of  the  Church  is  to  be  secured  only  in 
union  with  these !  But  are  all  those  who  believe  in 
immersion  united  ?  If  so,  in  what,  save  that  rite  ? 
Are  they  even  as  to  the  efficacy  of  the  rite?  Are 
all  who  believe  in  Prelacy  united  ?  If  so,  in  what  ? 
In  nothing,  from  the  wearing  of  a  surplice,  up  to  the 
great  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith.  ISTor  does  any 
schism  now  more  afflict  the  Church  of  God  than  that 
which  divides  the  Episcopal  Church  into  high  and 
low.  There  is  an  external  unity,  but  a  real  and  very 
angry  schism.  Indeed,  the  oneness  of  which  the  Sav- 
ior speaks  never  has  been  and  never  can  be  obtained 
by  a  mere  external  unity.  All  minds  can  not  be  made 
to  think  in  the  same  line ;  all  conscientious  convictions 
can  not  be  made  to  run  in  the  same  channel.  'No  ec- 
clesiastical laws — no  fires  of  persecution,  have  been 
able  to  accomplish  this.  The  object  is  Utopian,  and 
none  should  waste  their  energies  in  seeking  to  attain  it. 


PREACHERS  AND   PREACHING.  219 

Union  and  diversity.  Schismatics.  Eeal  union. 

4.  There  is  a  unity  in  Christ,  consistent  with  di- 
versity of  opinion  on  non-essentials  to  salvation, 
which  all  should  seek.  The  tree  is  one  tree,  however 
many  may  be  its  separate  branches.  It  is  the  union 
of  the  branches  in  the  root,  and  not  the  union  of  the 
branches  among  themselves,  that  make  it  one  tree. 
Who  ever  saw  a  tree  with  only  one  branch?  As 
the  vine  is  one,  however  numerous  may  be  its  branch- 
es, so  the  Church  of  Christ  is  one,  however  numerous 
may  be  its  branches  ;  and  the  real  schismatics  of  our 
world  are  those  who  deny  a  church-standing  to  those 
who  believe  in  Christ  because  they  do  not  belong  to 
them.  They  exalt  a  mere  sacrament  or  church  law 
above  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  are  guilty  of  the  folly 
of  the  Bishop  of  Eome,  who  excommunicated  the 
Eastern  churches  because  they  would  not  keep  Eas- 
ter at  the  right  time — a  feast  as  to  which  not  a  word 
is  said  in  all  the  New  Testament ! 

Unity  with  diversity  is  the  law  of  God  in  the  moral 
as  in  the  physical  world.  We  are  but  one  race,  al- 
though differing  in  many  respects  ;  and  the  truly  con- 
verted all  belong  to  the  Church  of  Christ,  although 
they  may  differ  in  many  minor  matters.  One  is  a 
Calvinist,  another  an  Arminian ;  both  may  be  true 
Christians,  and  should  so  love  one  another.  One  is  a 
Presbyterian,  another  an  Episcopalian ;  both  may  be 
true  Christians,  and  should  so  love  one  another.  One 
believes  only  in  baptism  of  believers  by  immersion ; 
another  believes  in  infant  baptism,  and  regards  the 
application  of  water  as  sufficient ;  they  may  be  both 


220  PEEACHEKS  AND  PREACHING. 

The  union  attainable.  The  way  to  it.  Utopian. 

Christians,  and  should  so  treat  one  another.  These 
all  are  united  in  Christ,  but  differ  as  to  minor  matters. 
And  there  is  a  much  wider  field  for  the  exercise  of 
Christian  principles  toward  those  from  whom  we  dif- 
fer than  toward  those  with  whom  we  agree. 

On  the  whole,  the  Christian  unity  which  is  sensible 
and  attainable  is  a  cordial  love  to  those  who  love 
Christ,  however,  in  the  lesser  matters  of  the  law,  they 
may  differ  from  it ;  and  a  free  Christian  communion 
with  them.  Nothing  is  gained  by  declamation  and 
high  profession  when  the  sectarian  walls  are  never 
taken  down  nor  crossed.  One  Episcopal  minister 
who  would  freely  interchange  pulpits  with  other 
Christian  ministers — one  immersion  Baptist  minister 
who  would  freely  exchange  services  at  the  commun- 
ion-table with  other  Christian  ministers,  would  do 
more  for  the  promotion  of  true  Christian  unity  than 
all  the  speeches  that  have  yet  been  made,  than  all  the 
essays  yet  written  on  the  subject.  There  is  no  reason 
why  Kobert  Hall,  Thomas  Scott,  Thomas  Chalmers, 
James  Milnor,  Archibald  Alexander,  John  M.  Mason, 
John  Summerfield,  should  not  exchange  pulpits,  and 
intercommune,  without  either  giving  up  their  pecu- 
liarities. And  this  is  the  Christian  communion  which, 
in  the  present  state  of  man,  is  either  attainable  or  de- 
sirable. We  may  be  different  as  the  branches,  but 
one  as  the  tree ;  different  as  the  waves,  but  one  as 
the  sea ;  different  as  members  of  the  body,  but  one  in 
Christ  the  head.  Short  of  this  is  sectarian  bigotry ; 
to  seek  more  than  this  is  Utopian.     The  external 


PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  221 

Seeds  of  persecution.  Day-dream, 

"union  of  all  Christians  is  a  dream ;  to  be  one  in  Christ 
is  the  fervent  desire  of  all  true  hearts.  For  myself,  I 
conld  not  belong  to  a  Church  which,  for  any  reason, 
would  forbid  my  exchanging  pulpits  with  any  evan- 
gelical ministei',  or  my  communing  with  any  Christian 
people,  and  for  the  reason  that  I  would  be  giving  my 
sanction  to  a  principle  false  and  intolerant,  and  which 
has  folded  up  in  it  the  seeds  of  persecution.  But  the 
union  of  Christian  people  in  one  body  ecclesiastic  is 
a  visionary  day-dream. 


222  PREACHERS  AND   PREACHING. 

The  highest  distinction.  Love  of  his  people. 


CHAPTEK  XXX. 

THE  FAITHFUL   MINISTER. 

To  be  not  a  learned,  or  eloquent,  or  popular,  but 
"  a  faithful  minister,"  is  the  very  highest  distinction 
to  which  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel  can  attain.  It  is 
a  comprehensive  phrase,  including  many  particulars, 
and  instead  of  discussing  it  ourselves,  we  present  the 
following  analysis  of  it  by  Thomas  Fuller,  who  died 
in  1660.     Though  quaint,  it  is  rich. 

"  He  endeavors  to  get  the  general  love  and  good-will  of 
Ms  parish.  This  he  doth,  not  so  much  to  make  a  ben- 
efit of  them  as  a  benefit  for  them,  that  his  ministry 
may  be  more  effectual ;  otherwise  he  may  preach  his 
own  heart  out  before  he  preach  any  thing  into  theirs. 
The  good  opinion  of  a  physician  is  half  a  cure,  and 
his  practice  will  scarce  be  happy  where  his  person  is 
hated.  Yet  he  humors  them  not  in  his  doctrine  to 
get  their  love,  for  such  a  spaniel  is  worse  than  a  dumb 
dog.  He  shall  sooner  get  their  good- will  by  walking 
uprightly  than  by  crouching  and  creeping.  If  pious 
living  and  painful  laboring  in  his  calling  will  not  win 
their  affections,  he  counts  it  gain  to  lose  them.  As 
for  those  who  causelessly  hate  him,  he  pities  and  prays 
for  them ;  and  such  there  will  be.  I  should  suspect  his 
preaching  had  no  salt  in  it  if  no  galled  horse  did  wince. 


PREACHEKS   AND   PREACHING.  223 

His  conversation.  Courteous.  Catechises. 

'"''He  is  strict  in  ordering  his  conversation.  It  was 
said  of  one  wlio  preached  very  well  and  lived  very 
ill,  '  That  when  he  was  out  of  the  pulpit  it  was  a  pity 
he  should  ever  go  into  it,  and  when  he  was  in  the  pul- 
pit it  was  a  pity  he  should  ever  come  out  of  it.'  But 
our  minister  lives  sermons.  And  yet  I  deny  not  but 
dissolute  men,  like  unskillful  horsemen,  who  open  a 
gate  on  the  wrong  side,  may,  by  virtue  of  their  office, 
open  heaven  for  others  and  shut  themselves  out. 

"  His  hehavior  toward  his  peoj^le  is  grave  and  court- 
eous. Not  too  austere  and  retired,  which  is  laid  to 
the  charge  of  good  Mr.  Hooper,  the  martyr,  that  his 
rigidness  frighted  people  from  consulting  him.  'Let 
your  light,'  saith  Christ,  '  shine  before  men ;'  whereas 
over  -  reservedness  makes  the  brightest  virtue  burn 
dim.  Especially  he  detesteth  affected  gravity  (which 
is  rather  on  men  than  in  them),  whereby  some  belie 
their  register-book,  antedate  their  age  to  seem  far  old- 
er than  they  are,  and  plait  and  set  their  brows  in  an 
affected  sadness.  Whereas  St.  Anthony,  the  monk, 
might  have  been  known  among  hundreds  of  his  or- 
der by  his  cheerful  face,  he  having  ever  (though  a 
most  mortified  man)  a  merry  countenance. 

^^  He  car ef idly  catechises  his  j^eojAe  in  the  elements  of 
religion.  Even  Luther  did  not  scorn  to  profess  him- 
self a  scholar  of  the  Catechism.  By  this  catechising 
the  Gospel  got  ground  of  Popery ;  and  let  not  our  re- 
ligion, now  grown  rich,  be  ashamed  of  that  which 
first  gave  it  credit  and  set  it  up,  lest  the  Jesuits  beat 
us  at  our  own  weapon.     Through  the  want  of  this 


224  PREACHEES  AND  PREACHING. 

He  studies.  Preaches  from  the  heart.  Reproves  sin. 

catecliising,  many  wlio  are  well  skilled  in  some  dark 
ont-corners  of  divinity  have  lost  themselves  in  the 
beaten  road  thereof. 

'''•He  ivill  not  offer  to  Ood  that  which  costs  him  nothing j 
but  takes  pains  beforehand  for  his  sermons.  Demos- 
thenes never  made  any  oration  on  the  sudden ;  yea, 
being  called  upon,  he  never  rose  up  to  speak  except 
he  had  well  studied  the  matter ;  and  he  was  wont  to 
say  that  he  showed  how  he  honored  and  reverenced 
the  people  of  Athens,  because  he  was  careful  what  he 
spake  unto  them.  Indeed,  if  our  minister  be  surprised 
with  a  sudden  occasion,  he  counts  himself  rather  to  be 
excused  than  commended,  if,  premeditating  only  the 
bones  of  his  sermon,  he  clothe  it  with  flesh  extempore. 
As  for  those  whose  long  custom  hath  made  preaching 
their  nature,  that  they  can  discourse  sermons  without 
study,  he  accounts  their  examples  rather  to  be  admired 
than  imitated. 

'•''  Having  brought  his  sermon  into  his  head^  he  lahors 
to  bring  it  into  his  heart  before  he  preaches  it  to  his  people. 
Surely  that  preaching  which  comes  from  the  soul 
mo^  works  on  the  soul. 

"  j0e  chiefly  reproves  the  reigning  sins  of  the  time  and 
place  he  lives  in.  We  may  observe  that  our  Savior 
never  inveighed  against  idolatry,  usury,  Sabbath- 
breaking,  among  the  Jews ;  not  that  these  were  not 
sins,  but  that  they  were  not  practiced  so  much  in 
that  age,  wherein  wickedness  was  spun  with  a  finer 
thread;  and  therefore  Christ  principally  bent  the 
drift  of  his  preaching  against  spiritual  pride,  hypoc- 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING-.        225 

How  he  does  it.  How  he  quotes  Scripture. 

risy,  and  traditions,  then  predominant  among  tlie  peo- 
ple. Also  our  minister  confuteth  no  old  heresies 
whicli  time  liatli  confuted,  nor  troubles  his  auditory 
with  such  strange,  hideous  cases  of  conscience  that 
it  is  more  hard  to  find  the  case  than  the  resolution. 
In  public  reproving  of  sin,  he  ever  whips  the  vice, 
but  spares  the  person. 

"  He  doth  not  only  move  the  bread  oflife^  and  toss  it  up 
and  down  in  generalities^  hut  also  breaks  it  into  particu- 
lar directions^  drawing  it  down  to  cases  of  conscience, 
'  that  a  man  may  be  warranted  in  his  particular  actions, 
whether  they  be  lawful  or  not.  And  he  teacheth  peo- 
ple their  lawful  liberty,  as  well  as  their  restraints  and 
prohibitions ;  for  among  men  it  is  as  ill  taken  to  turn 
back  favors  as  to  disobey  commands. 

"  The  places  of  Scripture  he  quotes  are  pregnant  and 
pertinent.  As  for  heaping  up  of  many  quotations,  it 
smacks  of  a  vain  ostentation  of  memory.  Besides,  it 
is  as  impossible  that  the  hearer  should  retain  them 
all  as  that  the  preacher  hath  seriously  perused  them 
all ;  yea,  while  the  auditors  stop  their  attention,  and 
stoop  down  to  gather  an  impertinent  quotation,  the 
sermon  runs  on,  and  they  lose  more  substantial  mat- 
ter. 

"  His  similes  and  illustrations  are  always  familiar^ 
never  contemptible.  Indeed,  reasons  are  the  pillars  of 
the  fabric  of  a  sermon,  but  similitudes  are  the  win- 
dows which  give  the  best  lights.  He  avoids  such 
stories  whose  mention  may  suggest  bad  thoughts  to 
the  auditors,  and  will  not  use  a  light  comparison  to 
K2 


226  PREACHERS  AND   PREACHING. 

Food  provided.  Length  of  sermons.  Success. 

make  thereof  a  grave  application,  for  fear  lest  this 
poison  go  farther  than  his  antidote. 

^'^  He  provideth  not  only  wholesome,  hut  plentiful  food 
for  his  people.  Almost  incredible  was  the  painfulness 
of  Baronius,  the  compiler  of  the  voluminous  Annals 
of  the  Church,  who,  for  thirty  years  together,  preach- 
ed three  or  four  times  a  week  to  the  people.  As  for 
our  minister,  he  preferreth  rather  to  entertain  his  peo- 
ple with  wholesome  cold  meat,  which  was  on  the  table 
before,  than  with  that  which  is  hot  from  the  spit,  raw, 
and  half  roasted.  Yet,  in  repetition  of  the  same  ser- 
mon, every  edition  hath  a  new  addition,  if  not  of  new 
matter,  of  new  affections.  '  Of  whom,'  saith  St.  Paul, 
'  we  have  told  you  often,  and  now  we  tell  you  weep- 
ing.' 

^^  He  makes  not  that  ivearisome  ivhich  should  ever  he 
welcome.  Wherefore  his  sermons  are  of  an  ordinary 
length,  except  on  extraordinary  occasions.  What  a 
gift  had  John  Halsebach,  professor  at  Vienna,  in  te- 
diousness !  who,  being  to  expound  the  prophet  Isaiah 
to  his  auditors,  read  twenty-one  years  on  the  first 
chapter,  and  yet  finished  it  not. 

"  He  counts  the  success  of  his  ministry  the  greatest  pre- 
ferment. Yet  herein  God  hath  humbled  many  pain- 
ful  pastors,  in  making  them  to  be  clouds  to  rain,  not 
over  Arabia  the  Happy,  but  over  the  Stony  or  Desert ; 
yet  such  pastors  may  comfort  themselves  that  great 
is  their  reward  with  God  in  heaven,  who  measures  it 
not  by  their  success,  but  endeavors.  Besides,  though 
they  see  not,  their  people  may  feel  benefited  by  their 


PREACHEES  AND   PREACHING.  227 


Care  of  the  sick.  His  opinions. 


ministry.  Yea,  the  preacliing  of  the  Word  in  some 
places  is  like  the  planting  of  woods,  where,  though  no 
profit  is  secured  for  twenty  years  together,  it  comes 
afterward.  And  grant  that  God  honors  thee  not  to 
build  his  temple  in  thy  parish,  yet  thou  mayest,  with 
David,  provide  metals  and  materials  for  Solomon  thy 
successor  to  build  it  with. 

"  To  sich  folks  he  comes  sometimes  before  he  is  sent  for j 
as  counting  his  vocation  a  suf^cient  calling.  None 
of  his  flock  shall  want  the  extreme' unction  of  prayer 
and  counsel. 

"  He  is  moderate  in  Ms  tenets  and  opinions.  Not  that 
he  gilds  over  lukewarmness  in  matters  of  moment 
with  the  title  of  discretion,  but  withal  he  is  careful 
not  to  entitle  violence  in  indifferent  and  inconcern- 
-ing  matters  to  be  zeal.  Indeed,  men  of  extraordinary 
tallness  (though  otherwise  little  deserving)  are  made 
porters  to  lords,  and  those  of  unusual  littleness  are 
made  ladies'  dwarfs,  while  men  of  moderate  stature 
may  want  masters.  Thus  many  notorious  for  extrem- 
ities may  find  favorers  to  prefer  them,  while  moderate 
men  in  the  middle  truth  may  want  any  to  advance 
them.  But  what  saith  the  apostle  ?  '  If  in  this  life 
only  we  had  hope,  we  are  of  all  men  the  most  miser- 
able.' 

"  He  is  sociable^  and  willing  to  do  any  courtesy  for  his 
neighbor  ministers.  He  willingly  communicates  his 
knowledge  unto  them.  Surely  the  gifts  and  graces 
of  Christians  lay  in  common  till  base  envy  made  the 
first  inclosure.     He  neither  slighteth  his  inferiors,  nor 


228  PEEACHERS  AND   PEEACHING. 

His  family.  His  death-bed  legacy. 

repinetli  at  tliose  who  in  parts  and  credit  are  above 
him.  He  loveth  the  company  of  his  neighbor  minis- 
ters. Sure  as  ambergris  is  nothing  so  sweet  in  itself 
as  when  it  is  compounded  with  other  things,  so  both 
godly  and  learned  men  are  gainers  by  communicating 
themselves  to  their  neighbors. 

"  He  is  careful  in  the  discreet  ordering  ofhis  own  fam- 
ily. A  good  minister  and  a  good  father  may  well 
agree  together.  When  a  certain  Frenchman  came  to 
visit  Melancthon,  he  found  him  in  his  study,  with  one 
hand  dandling  his  child,  and  in  the  other  holding  a 
book  and  reading  it.  Our  minister,  also,  is  as  hospi- 
table as  his  estate  will  permit,  and  makes  every  alms 
two  by  his  cheerful  giving  it. 

"  Lying  on  his  death-hed^  he  bequeaths  to  each  of  his 
parishioners  his  precepts  and  example  for  a  legacy^  and 
they,  in  requital,  erect  every  one  a  monument  for  him 
in  their  hearts.  He  is  so  far  from  that  base  jealousy 
that  his  memory  should  be  outshined  by  a  brighter 
successor,  and  from  that  wicked  desire  that  his  people 
may  find  his  worth  by  the  worthlessness  of  him  that 
succeeds,  that  he  doth  heartily  pray  to  God  to  provide 
them  a  better  pastor  after  his  decease.  As  for  out- 
ward estate,  he  commonly  lives  in  too  bare  pasture 
to  die  fat.  It  is  well  if  he  hath  gathered  any  flesh, 
being  more  in  blessing  than  in  bulk." 

With  ministers  answering  this  description  may  ev- 
ery branch  of  the  Church  of  God  be  blessed. 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.       229 

This  a  propitious  day.  The  battle  won. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

ADDRESS    TO     THE    YOUTHFUL     MINISTRY    OF    THE 
CHURCH. 

My  dear  Brethren^ — ^With  tlie  present  topic  we  con- 
clude all  we  liave  now  to  say  on  preachers  and  preach- 
ing, and  we  desire  to  close  the  series  by  a  kind  and 
affectionate  address  to  you,  who  are  pressing  forward, 
more  rapidly  than  you  are  aware,  to  the  front  rank 
of  the  ministry,  and  who  are  soon  to  take  the  place 
of  the  fathers  who  are  so  rapidly  laying  aside  the 
weapons  of  their  warfare  on  the  brink  of  the  grave. 

You  enter  on  the  labors  of  the  ministry  at  a  most 
propitious  time.  The  great  battles  with  infidelity 
have  been  fought  and  won.  The  ablest  minds  that. 
God  has  created  have  discussed  the  various  topics  of 
doctrine  and  order  which  have  divided  the  Christian 
Church ;  nor  is  it  assuming  too  much  to  say  that  they 
have  all  been  settled  in  favor  of  what  is  technically 
known  as  the  "Evangelical  System."  If  error,  and 
formalism,  and  fanaticism  yet  live,  and  oppose  them- 
selves to  the  truth,  they  live  not  as  baleful  trees  over- 
shadowing the  garden  of  the  Lord,  but  as  roots  of  bit- 
terness, like  unto  remaining  depravity  in  the  heart; 
and  they  oppose  the  truth,  not  with  the  bold,  cheerful 
heart  which  anticipates  victory,  but  with  the  craven, 


230  PEEACHEES  AND   PEEACHIKG. 

The  world  open.  The  Church  awake.  Advantages. 

cowardly  aspect  produced  by  repeated  defeat.  Be- 
yond any  previous  age,  the  Gospel  has  a  clear  and 
wide  space  on  which  to  carry  on  its  glorious  mission. 
And  the  field,  which  is  the  world,  is  open  to  its 
heavenly  influence.  Turkey,  India,  China,  Japan, 
Africa,  the  Islands  of  the  Sea,  closed  or  undiscovered 
sixty  years  ago,  are  now  open  and  white  unto  the 
harvest,  and  already  has  the  Gospel  been  preached  to 
their  swarming  millions.  And  the  Church,  which, 
at  the  opening  of  this  century,  was  folding  its  hands 
to  sleep — was  drawing  the  curtains  of  its  couch  around 
it,  preparing  for  long  repose — is  now  instinct  with  the 
spirit  of  life,  and  is  seeking  to  give  the  Gospel  to  ev- 
ery creature.  Samuel  J.  Mills,  and  Hall,  and  Carey, 
and  Martyn,  and  Scudder  have  lived  and  died ;  oth- 
ers of  like  spirit  have  been  raised  up  to  take  their 
place ;  and  now,  instead  of  hearing  the  hammers  of 
the  different  branches  of  the  Evangelical  Church  ring- 
ing upon  each  other's  gates,  we  see  them  all  taxing 
their  resources,  with  ever-increasing  liberality,  to  give 
the  Gospel  to  every  creature  I  It  is  amid  advant- 
ages like  these  that  you  enter  upon  the  duties  of 
your  ministry  in  the  Church  of  God.  True,  Eoman- 
ism  is  yet  what  it  has  ever  been,  the  foe  of  a  simple 
Gospel  and  of  human  liberty ;  and  Islamism  is  what 
it  has  ever  been,  fanatical  in  its  opposition  to  our 
Christianity ;  and  heathenism  is  what  it  has  ever 
been,  carnal,  sensual,  devilish ;  but  the  walls  behind 
which  they  have  intrenched  themselves  have  fallen 
flat  as  those  of  Jericho,  and  their  darkness  is  fast  dis- 


PEEACHEES  AND   PEEACHING.  231 

A  right  heart.  Love  to  Christ.  Diligence  in  study, 

appearing  as  the  sun  of  righteousness  is  ascending 
tlie  sky.  And  with  a  ministry  up  to  the  spirit  of  our 
times,  and  with  a  firm  purpose  to  use  all  its  advant- 
ages to  the  full,  very  soon  will  the  Gospel  be  preach- 
ed to  every  creature.  And  to  induce  you  to  be  able 
ministers  of  the  New  Testament  in  a  day  such  as  is 
ours,  is  our  object  in  this  article. 

1.  See  to  it  that  your  heart  is  right  in  the  sight  of 
God.  By  this  we  mean,  not  that  you  should  be  sat- 
isfied that  you  are  a  Christian,  but  that  you  are  a 
Christian  up  to  the  point  of  consecration  requisite  to 
be  a  minister.  It  is  required  in  a  minister  that  he 
endure  hardness  as  a  good  soldier — that  he  fight  the 
good  fight  of  faith.  Nothing  less  than  a  love  for 
Christ  stronger  than  all  other  loves  will  enable  you 
to  do  this.  Love  to  Christ  will  enable  you  to  rejoice 
when  suffering  for  his  name's  sake.  It  will  make 
your  feet  as  hind's  feet  in  every  path  of  duty.  Love 
makes  every  burden  easy  and  every  yoke  light.  One 
of  our  martyred  missionaries  in  India  was  heard  to 
say,  when  all  hope  of  escape  from  the  Sepoys  was  sur- 
rendered, that  she  could  only  rejoice  that  she  was  per- 
mitted to  go  to  that  land  to  tell  the  people  about 
Jesus. 

2.  Be  a  diligent  student.  This  you  especially  need 
to  be  if  your  education  was  limited,  and  this  you  are 
able  to  be  if  thoroughly  educated.  Let  your  first 
money  be  spent  in  getting  a  good  biblical  apparatus, 
and  then  use  it  constantly.  Wesley  thu.s  admonishes 
one  of  his  lazy  preachers :  "  Your  talent  in  preach- 


232       PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Wesley's  admonition.  ladustry.  Advice  of  an  old  minister. 

ing  does  not  increase ;  it  is  the  same  as  it  was  seven 
years  ago ;  it  is  lively,  but  not  deep ;  there  is  no  va- 
riety, and  no  compass  of  thouglit.  Whetlier  you  like 
it  or  not,  study  daily ;  else  you  will  be  a  trifler  all 
your  days,  and  a  petty,  superficial  preacher.  Do  just- 
ice to  your  own  soul.  Give  it  time  and  means  to 
grow.  Do  not  starve  yourself  any  longer."  There 
is  vast  need  of  this  exhortation  now.  In  this  day  of 
intelligence  and  action,  when  many  mechanics  know 
more  than  did  the  doctors  of  the  Sorbonne  two  cen- 
turies ago,  a  pastor  without  severe  study  is  but  lit- 
tle worth.  Pious  commonplace  and  driveling,  even 
when  warm,  and  earnest,  and  honest,  is  sinking  to  its 
true  value. 

8.  Be  industrious.  Look  around  you.  Nobody 
succeeds  in  any  calling  save  by  industry,  whether 
lawyer,  physician,  farmer,  merchant,  or  mechanic. 
You  can  tell  the  house  and  the  farm  of  the  sluggard, 
and  so  you  can  the  church  and  the  people  of  an  in- 
dolent minister.  The  vineyard  of  the  Lord  needs  la- 
borers, not  idlers.  And  God  looks  upon  an  idle  min- 
ister as  a  farmer  looks  upon  an  idle  laborer,  or  as  a 
master  looks  upon  an  idle  servant.  An  old  minister 
thus  writes  to  a  young  one :  "  There  is  a  fashion 
among  us  to  speak  of  our  employment  in  the  service 
of  Christ  as  lahor^  which  I  fear  tends  to  make  young 
men  overrate  their  actual  exertions.  I  would  not 
make  disparaging  comparisons ;  but  why  should  not 
a  minister  be  ready  to  work  as  much  every  day  as 
the  physician  and  the  lawyer?     They  write,  read, 


PREACHEES  AND   PREACHING.  233 

Work  as  do  others.  Advice  of  Evans.  Idleness. 

study,  converse,  as  we  do.  Their  lungs  are  no  stron- 
ger ;  tlieir  frames  are  no  more  robust.  With  as  much 
excitement  in  our  duties,  we  shall  be  likely  to  have 
as  much  vigor  in  performing  them.  Dismiss  the  no- 
tion that  you  must  be  tired  every  service.  Do  not 
believe  that  Monday  is  to  be  sacrificed  to  rest.  Be- 
gin on  that  day  fresh  from  the  pleasures  of  the  Sab- 
bath, and  you  can  do  more  than  on  any  other  day, 
and  you  will  have  no  crowding  on  Saturday — per- 
haps trespassing  on  the  holy  day  itself,  with  what 
ought  to  to  be  entirely  ofi"  your  hands  before  it 
dawns."  There  is  much  sense  and  force  in  all  this. 
Bad  habits  do  more  in  breaking  down  ministers 
than  hard  work. 

The  pious  Christmas  Evans,  when  he  was  about 
putting  off  his  harness,  thus  wrote  to  a  young  minis- 
ter:  "  I  am  old,  my  dear  boy,  and  you  are  just  enter- 
ing the  ministry.  Let  me  now,  and  here,  tell  you  one 
thing,  and  commend  it  to  your  attention  and  memory. 
All  the  ministers  that  I  have  ever  known  who  have 
fallen  into  disgrace  or  into  uselessness  have  been  idle 
men.  An  idle  man  is  in  the  way  of  every  temptation. 
Temptation  has  not  to  seek  him ;  he  is  at  the  corner 
of  the  street  ready  and  waiting  for  it.  In  the  case  of 
a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  this  peril  is  multiplied  by 
his  position,  his  neglected  duties,  the  temptations  pe- 
culiar to  his  condition,  and  his  superior  susceptibility. 
Rememher  this — stich  to  your  hooh.  I  am  never  much 
afraid  of  a  young  minister  when  I  know  that  he  can, 
and  does,  fairly  sit  down  to  his  book.     There  is  Mr. 


234  PREACHEES  AND  PREACHING. 

Industry  gives  leisure.  Examples.  Write  sermons. 

of  such  unliappj  temper,  and  wlio  has  such 


5 

a  love  to  meddle  with  every  thing :  he  would  long 
ago  have  been  utterly  wrecked,  but  his  habits  of  in- 
dustry saved  him."  Let  no  merchant  in  the  town — 
no  lawyer  or  physician  of  your  acquaintance — no 
farmer  of  your  parish,  be  more  industrious  than  you 
in  their  calling.  Give  not  a  day  of  your  life  but  for 
its  worth.  Industry  will  keep  you  always  busy  and  al- 
ways at  leisure.  It  will  give  you  time  for  every  thing, 
and  enable  you  to  do  every  thing  in  its  time,  and  to 
perfect  every  thing  you  imdertake.  It  will  aid  you  in 
writing  short  sermons.  It  will  bless  you  and  your 
people,  and  the  Church,  in  a  thousand  ways.  And  ex- 
amples for  your  imitation  you  will  find  in  Luther,  Cal- 
vin, Baxter,  Wesley — in  every  man,  in  every  dej)art- 
ment  of  life,  who  has  risen  to  high  position  among  his 
fellows.  Shepherd,  himself  a  great  preacher,  used  to 
say,  "  God  will  curse  that  man's  labors  who  goes  idly 
up  and  down  all  the  week,  and  then  goes  into  his  study 
on  Saturday."  When  his  friends  sought  to  persuade 
ISTewton,  when  upward  of  eighty  years,  to  preach  no 
more,  he  replied,  "I  can  not  stop:  what!  shall  the  old 
African  blasphemer  stop  while  he  can  speak !" 

4.  Write  your  sermons,  and  write  them  with  all 
care.  You  may  or  may  not  read  them  from  the  pul- 
pit, but  be  sure  to  write  them.  There  are  those  who 
would  advise  to  the  contrary,  but  many  of  them  are 
the  best  possible  refutation  of  their  own  theory.  The 
very  worst  model  of  a  preacher  with  whom  I  am  ac- 
quainted is  the  one  who  inveighs  most  loudly  against 


PKEACHEES  AND  PEEACHING.  235 

The  pastor  and  elder.  A  sermon  a  week,  A  comparison. 

"reading  the  Gospel,"  and  wlio  could  not  write  if  he 
had  the  desire.  Not  long  since  we  were  in  conversa- 
tion with  a  pastor  who  was  lauding  extempore  preach- 
ing, and  telling  of  his  success  in  that  direction.  In  a 
few  hours  afterward  we  met  an  elder  of  his  church, 
of  fine  culture,  who  thus  addressed  us:  "I  saw  you 
in  conversation  with  our  pastor ;  could  you  not  in- 
duce him  to  write  his  sermons  ?  He  is  feeding  us  on 
the  wind  since  he  left  off  writing."  There  are  those 
of  peculiar  mental  habits  who  can  preach  best  without 
writing,  but  they  are  the  exceptions.  Unless  you 
wish  to  join  the  "flying  artillery"  of  the  host  of  God's 
elect,  write  carefully  a  sermon  a  week,  at  least.  I 
would  not  advise  you  to  write  more.  Do  this  as  long 
as  God  spares  you,  and  yours  will  be  a  green  and  use- 
ful old  age.  Look  around  you.  Compare  the  men 
of  seventy  who  have  written  their  sermons  carefully, 
with  those  of  the  same  age  who  have  written  care- 
lessly, or  not  at  all — and  he  wise.  We  would  say  to 
every  young  minister,  write  a  sermon  a  week ;  write 
it  carefully ;  make  it  as  perfect,  plain,  powerful  as 
possible,  if  you  wish  to  be  a  workman — if  you  wish 
to  be  permanently  useful — if  you  wish  to  feed  the 
flock  of  God — if  you  wish  to  be  useful  down  to  old 
age.  The  preacher  of  truth  should  set  it  forth  in  what 
Solomon  calls  "  acceptable  words."  Genteel  drapery 
detracts  nothing  from  it.  If  he  would  not  decorate  it 
with  lace  and  embroidery,  he  should  not  permit  it  to  go 
forth  in  the  shabby  garb  of  an  old  gentlewoman  fallen 
to  decay.     By  so  doing  he  degrades  it  and  himself. 


236       PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Ardent  manner.  Hot  hearts.  Hotv  secured. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

ADDRESS    TO     THE    YOUTHFUL     MINISTRY     OF     THE 

CHURCH —  Continued, 

We  liave  a  few  more  things  yet  to  say  to  the  youth- 
ful ministry  of  the  Church. 

5.  Cultivate  an  ardent  manner  in  the  pulpit.  "We 
want  men  of  liot  hearts  to  tell  us  of  the  love  of  Christ," 
said,  once,  a  converted  pagan.  And  this  is  a  want 
of  Christian  as  of  unchristian  lands.  Many  preachers 
are  cold,  very  cold.  They  are  correct  and  dignified, 
but  formal  and  cold.  The  round  of  service  is  de- 
cently performed;  but  it  has  no  life,  and  imparts 
none.  The  people  will  sleep  unless  the  minister 
wakes  them ;  they  will  be  at  ease  in  Zion  unless  the 
minister  denounces  a  woe  against  their  indolence. 
The  people  need  heat  as  well  as  light ;  and  the  Church 
has  quite  enough  of  that  preaching  which  is  as  cold 
as  moonbeams. 

"Hot  hearts"  are  not  secured  simply  by  study, 
nor  by  speculations  in  the  line  of  Grerman  rational- 
ism, nor  by  the  preparation  of  logical  or  rhetorical 
essays ;  they  must  be  sought  of  Grod  who  alone  can 
give  them.  However  small  your  audience  or  trite 
your  subject,  always  seek  to  interest  and  to  make 
your  hearers  feel.     !N"ever  forget  that  your  grand 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.        237 

Saving  a  soul.  Hobbies.  Their  riders. 

mission  is  to  beseech,  men  in  Christ's  stead  to  be  rec- 
onciled to  God.  Never  ascend  the  pnlpit  without 
seeking  to  impress  this  truth  on  your  own  heart. 
There  is  a  day  coming  when  the  knowledge  of  hav- 
ing been  the  instrument  of  saving  one  soul  will  yield 
you  more  real  satisfaction  than  having  attained  the 
loftiest  heights  of  human  ambition.  Be  fervent  in 
the  pulpit — fervent,  in  opposition  to  a  manner  tame 
or  boisterous.     God  was  not  in  the  whirlwind. 

6.  Beware  of  hobbies.  The  Church  is  the  pillar 
and  ground  of  the  truth.  The  Gospel  is  God's  great 
remedy  for  all  the  woes  of  our  race;  and,  if  the 
Gospel  can  not  remove  them,  what  can  ?  As  a  min- 
ister of  the  Gospel,  you  are  to  know  nothing  but 
Christ  and  him  crucified.  This  should  be  your  only 
hobby.  This  you  can  always  and  every  where  ride. 
Men  may  hate  your  doctrines,  but  they  will  honor 
your  fidelity ;  they  may  reject  your  message,  but  they 
will  pronounce  you  a  faithful  embassador.  Other 
hobbies  soon  break  down,  and  may  break  you  down. 
We  have  known  many  young  ministers  of  fine  parts 
who,  in  their  early  ministry,  have  given  themselves 
to  hobbies,  and,  with  but  few  exceptions,  they  have 
done  but  little,  save  to  excite  controversy  and  split 
churches.  They  have  been  mere  firebrands,  walk- 
ing in  the  light  of  the  sparks  of  their  own  kindling. 
And  we  have  known  others,  of  very  ordinary  abili- 
ties, who,  by  a  simple  continuance  in  preaching  Christ, 
have  written  their  names  on  the  rock  forever.  And 
even  when  a  man  after  a  few  years  gets  tired  of  his 


238  PREACHERS  AND   PREACHING. 

Men  at  discount.  Stability.  Changelings. 

hobbies,  and  returns  to  the  simple  work  of  preaching 
Christ,  there  are  suspicions  about  him  in  the  public 
mind  which  are  not  easily  allayed.  "We  know  a  few 
such,  of  fine  talents,  of  earnest  piety,  of  more  than 
ordinary  power,  and  yet  their  early  life  has  placed 
them  at  a  discount  from  which  they  may  never  re- 
cover. As  a  rule,  the  minister  who  only  deserts  a 
hobby  when  he  has  rode  it  to  death  had  better  die 
with  it.  He  is  damaged  beyond  recovery.  And 
people  flock  to  hear  the  successful  in  the  race,  as  they 
flock  to  Niagara  to  see  how  wonderfully  a  French 
maniac  can  balance  himself  on  a  wire  over  the  fright- 
ful chasm  which  it  spans.  Eloquent  abuse  and  grand 
nonsense  always  attract,  but  they  never  give  high 
character. 

7.  Be  stable.  Form  your  opinions  carefully,  and 
then  abide  by  them.  You  will  spoil  your  watch  if 
you  are  ever  moving  its  hands  backward  and  forward 
to  suit  a  variety  of  other  watches  around  you;  so 
a  minister  who  is  ever  shaping  his  opinions  to  the 
whims,  and  tastes,  and  opinions  of  those  around  him 
will  soon  fall  into  contempt.  Some  believe  with  the 
last  book  read,  some  with  the  last  argument  they 
hear,  some  with  the  last  prejudice  excited.  The 
truth,  in  some  minds,  never  takes  root.  It  rather 
floats  on  the  surface,  like  the  light  substances  that  al- 
ways go  with  the  current.  Mr.  A.  came  to  the  sem- 
inary a  New  School  man,  then  he  became  a  rabid  re- 
vivalist, then  he  became  Old  School — far  older  than 
Calvin  or  the  Erskines — then,  in  three  weeks,  he  went 


PREACHERS  AND   PREACHING.  239 

An  example.  Location.  Rolling  stone. 

up  to  the  highest  rung  in  the  Episcopal  ladder ;  he 
was  on  his  way  to  Eome  when  he  died  at  the  "  Three 
Taverns,"  just  before  the  arrival  of  the  brethren  with 
shorn  pates  to  greet  him.  He  forfeited  the  confidence 
of  every  body.  And  when  a  man  in  midlife  makes 
a  radical  change  in  his  opinions,  however  honest,  it 
is  always  at  the  expense  of  his  sense.  And  when  a 
stone  commences  rolling  down  the  hill,  it  is  hard  to 
stop  it.  I  never  knew  a  minister  change  his  opinions 
for  which  there  was  not  some  reason  other  than  the 
one  avowed.  And  be  stable  as  to  your  location. 
Be  careful  as  to  your  first  settlement ;  and  when  you 
consider  and  avow  yourself  "called  of  God"  to  a 
certain  place,  be  careful  how  you  leave  it.  No  man 
can  stand  five  or  six  settlements  in  twenty  years, 
when  ecclesiastical  law,  as  among  the  Methodists,  does 
not  require  it !  Mr.  G.  is  not  yet  forty  years  old,  and 
already  has  he  been  connected  with  three  denomina- 
tions, and  has  been  pastor  of  five  churches,  and  is 
now  seeking  a  sixth !  He  is  almost  too  old  to  take* 
root.  "Therefore,  my  beloved  brethren,  be  stead- 
fast, immovable,  always  abounding  in  the  work  of 
the  Lord."  Eemember  the  proverb  about  the  rolling- 
stone.  Ministers  are  like  trees,  they  do  not  bear  to 
be  often  transplanted. 

8.  Cultivate  a  Christian  temper  toward  all  men. 
Adhere  to  your  own  principles  strongly,  but  treat  with 
Christian  kindness  and  courtesy  those  that  differ  from 
you.  Principles  are  very  important,  but  they  need  to 
be  adorned  by  the  graces  to  render  them,  attractive. 


240       PREACHEES  AND  PREACHING. 

Christian  temper.  The  old  leaven.  A  question. 

Beware  of  the  uncTmrching  dogmas  of  our  day — of 
sacramentarianism.  They  are  all  the  leaven  of  the  old 
Pharisees.  They  are  as  hateful  now  as  of  old.  Cul- 
tivate a  true  love  for  all  that  love  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  in  sincerity  and  in  truth,  but  never  permit 
your  Christian  liberality  to  degenerate  into  that  licen- 
tiousness which  regards  all  principles  alike.  Men 
who  regard  all  principles  alike  have  no  principles 
themselves,  and  are  not  to  be  trusted.  Kindly  treat 
those  that  oppose  themselves,  unless  they  are  malig- 
nants,  then  simply  quit  their  company.  Be  not  hasty 
to  wipe  off  every  aspersion  that  is  cast  on  you  false- 
ly for  Christ's  sake.  Let  them  alone  for  a  while,  and 
then,  like  mud  on  your  clothes,  they  will  rub  off 
when  dry.  A  calm,  Christian  temper,  under  the  in- 
fluence of  love  to  God  and  man,  is  a  great  help  to 
holiness ;  it  is  the  very  sunshine  of  the  soul.  And 
it  is  entirely  consistent  with  an  open  and  manly  de- 
fense of  the  right  and  the  true. 
*  But  you  will  ask.  Are  all  these  ministerial  qualifica- 
tions attainable  by  ordinary  preachers  of  the  Gospel  ? 
We  reply  without  hesitation,  they  are.  We  admit  a 
great  variety  in  the  tastes,  the  talents,  the  tempers  of 
men.  Habits,  too,  may  be  early  acquired,  which  it 
may  be  very  difficult  to  change.  But  the  worst  men- 
tal and  moral  habits  have  been  overcome,  and  impedi- 
ments deemed  insuperable  have  been  removed.  And 
that  men  may  surmount  manifold  obstacles,  and  be- 
come models,  as  ministers,  in  the  exhibition  of  all 
the  Christian  graces  and  virtues,  our  religious  biogra- 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  241 

Attainable,  Dr.  J.  W.  Alexander.  His  piety. 

■phj  abundantly  proves.  Nor  need  we  go,  for  proof 
or  illustration  tliat  the  qualifications  stated  are  attain- 
able, far  into  the  past,  where  the  vices  of  men  fall 
into  the  shade  of  their  virtues ;  nor  far  away,  where 
defects  become  invisible  by  distance,  as  do  the  spots 
on  the  sun.  The  proof  and  illustration  we  find  nearer 
home,  in  our  own  age,  and  in  the  midst  of  us. 

The  Church  of  Christ  in  this  land  is  yet  like  a 
widow  in  her  weeds,  with  her  tears  on  her  cheeks, 
because  of  the  unexpected  removal  from  her  service 
of  Dr.  James  W.  Alexander.  He  fell  in  the  ripeness 
of  his  years,  and  in  the  midst  of  his  usefulness,  with 
his  armor  on,  and  on  the  field  of  conflict.  And  why 
is  it  that  such  a  universal  sorrowing  is  heard  from 
every  branch  of  the  Church  of  God,  and  from  every 
part  of  the  land  ?  He  was  a  noble  preacher  of  the 
Gospel,  but  he  has  left  equally  excellent  and  more 
impressive  behind  him.  He  was  a  truly  devout  man, 
whose  piety  and  motives  were  beyond  suspicion,  but 
the  same  may  be  said,  and  with  equal  emphasis,  of 
many  that  survive  him.  He  was  a  fine  and  accu- 
rate scholar,  and  a  writer  of  exquisite  taste  and  beau- 
ty, but  the  same  may  be  said  of  many  of  his  contem- 
poraries who  yet  live  to  bless  their  generation.  His 
great  excellence  did  not  consist  in  the  grand  devel- 
opment of  any  one  ministerial  gift  or  grace,  but  in 
the  sweet  and  harmonious  blending  of  them  all. 

His  piety  was  sincere  and  simple,  and  as  far  re- 
moved from  the  sour  and  sanctimonious  as  possible. 
When  in  good  frame,  and  among  his  friends,  he  was 

L 


242  PKEACHERS  AND   PREACHING. 

A  student.  His  sermons.  An  exception. 

the  most  clieerful  of  men ;  full  of  wit,  humor,  and 
anecdote,  and  in  these  respects  often  recalling  the 
image  of  his  sainted  father. 

He  was  a  student  of  rare  industry.  The  evidence 
of  this  we  have  in  the  number  of  languages  he  ac- 
(^uired — in  his  published  works — in  the  sermons  he 
preached,  each  of  which  seemed  to  be  a  model  in 
their  way,  and  exhaustive  of  their  subjects.  And  to 
meet  the  wants  of  such  a  congregation  as  was  his,  and 
the  calls  made  upon  his  time,  he  must  have  been  as 
industrious  a  pastor  as  he  was  a  student.  We  have 
never  heard  of  any  interest  of  his  congregation  suf- 
fering for  the  want  of  attention. 

While  he  carefully  prepared  his  sermons,  they  were 
models  of  simplicity.  His  thoughts  and  language 
were  clear  as  the  water  of  the  river  of  life.  He  gave, 
not  the  processes  by  which  he  reached  conclusions, 
but  the  results.  He  often  extemporized,  and  well,  be- 
cause his  mind  was  full  and  his  tongue  fluent.  And 
this  he  did  with  universal  satisfaction,  save  in  the 
case  of  the  colored  congregation  at  Princeton,  which 
he  served  as  pastor  when  there  as  professor.  They 
thought  they  needed  written  sermons  as  well  as  the 
white  congregations.  The  very  simplicity  which  was 
one  of  his  great  charms  every  where  else  was  there 
regarded  as  a  defect,  which  it  was  thought  might  be 
remedied  by  writing.  ISTor  are  they  the  only  people 
who  esteem  a  man  profound  in  the  proportion  of  his 
big  words  and  obscure  sentences,  and  unlearned  in 
the  proportion  of  his  simplicity  and  clearness. 


PREACHERS   AND   PREACHING.  243 

Pulpit  manner.  No  hobbies.  His  charity. 

His  manner  in  the  pnlpit  was  not  boisterous  nor 
declamatory.  It  was  as  far  removed  from  the  artifi- 
cial— the  start  theatric — as  possible.  But  it  was  earn- 
est and  ardent,  and,  at  times,  deeply  impressive,  al- 
though his  voice  was  not  the  best  in  its  intonations. 
He  had  a  heart  in  sympathy  with  every  truth  he  ut- 
tered, and  never  failed  to  impress.  There  are  many 
preachers  that  would  excel  him  in  a  few  sermons, 
but  we  know  of  but  few  that  would  as  fully  and  as 
constantly  instruct  or  permanently  attach  a  people. 

He  rode  no  hobbies,  nor  had  he  much  sympathy 
for  those  who  did.  Christ  and  him  crucified  was  his 
one,  great,  only  theme.  While  his  own  views  were 
ardently  cherished,  and  his  principles  were  fixed  as 
the  laws  of  nature,  his  modesty  and  gentleness  forbade 
him  to  obtrude  them  on  others.  He  felt,  and  truly, 
that  what  ministers  gain  in  noisy  conventions  and  in 
the  pursuit  of  mere  humanitarian  reforms,  they  lose 
in  the  pulpit  and  as  preachers  of  the  Gospel. 

And  his  Christian  charity  was  as  wide  as  the  world. 
No  man  was  more  strongly  attached  to  his  own 
Church,  to  its  principles  and  doctrines;  none  had  a 
more  heartfelt  love  to  all  who  love  Christ  in  sincerity 
and  truth.  All  who  loved  Christ  were  his  brethren. 
He  would  as  soon  attempt  to  confine  the  air  of  heav- 
en, or  the  light  of  the  sun,  or  the  falling  rain  or  dew 
to  his  denomination,  as  the  Church  of  God  to  the 
same  narrow  boundaries.  All  that  thing  he  gave 
over,  with  a  smile,  to  church  fanatics.  And  hence 
the  cry  of  mourning  and  lamentation  which  rose 


2M  PKEACHEES  AND  PKEACHING. 

His  sympathies.  His  letters.  His  advantages. 

from  tlie  entire  cliurcli  of  God  as  the  sad  intelligence 
of  his  death  flew  over  the  land. 

His  sympathies  were  deep  and  refined,  and  mani- 
fested themselves  on  all  appropriate  occasions.  He 
had  often  drunk  of  the  cup  of  affliction  himself,  and 
well  knew  how  to  comfort  others  with  the  comforts 
with  which  he  himself  was  comforted  of  God.  He 
was  a  son  of  Consolation  to  the  mourning ;  he  was. 
afflicted  in  their  affliction,  and  often,  as  it  would  seem, 
more  deeply  than  the  sorrowing  themselves.  Nor  in 
this  was  he  confined  to  the  people  of  his  own  charge. 
If  the  many  letters  written  to  afflicted  friends  and 
acquaintances  could  be  collected,  we  have  no  doubt 
they  would  make  a  volume  rich  in  instruction  to 
every  mourning  household.  Hence,  while  loved  by 
all  his  people,  he  was  peculiarly  loved  by  those  who 
were  called  to  drink  of  the  cup  of  sorrow. 

What,  in  all  these  respects.  Dr.  Alexander  was,  we 
would  fervently  exhort  the  rising  ministry  of  the 
Church  to  seek  to  be.  True,  he  had  advantages  of 
early  training  above  many ;  he  had  the  advice  and 
the  prestige  of  an  honored  father  almost  through 
life ;  he  was  endowed  by  nature  with  peculiar  qual- 
ifications, all  of  which  tended  to  make  him  the 
man  that  he  was;  but,  after  all,  the  grace  of  God 
and  his  own  personal  habits  and  industry  did  more 
for  him  than  all  other  causes  and  advantages  com- 
bined. 

And  we  would  fervently  and  affectionately  hold 
up  to  the  rising  ministry  of  the  Church  of  God  in 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  245 

A  model  for  imitation. 

this  land  tlie  character  of  Dr.  James  W.  Alexander 
as  a  model  for  their  imitation.  In  the  sweet  blend- 
ing of  ministerial  gifts  and  graces  he  has  left  no  su- 
perior, and  but  few  equals,  behind  him. 


246  PKEACHEKS  AND  PEEACHING. 


Corresponding  duties.  Ministers  embassadors. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

PARISHES    AND    PEOPLE. 
Wrong  Views  of  the  Ministry. 

Having-  said  so  mucli  about  ministers,  tlieir  habits, 
their  manners,  their  preaching,  their  temper,  their 
spirit,  it  is  but  fair  to  discuss  with  equal  freedom  the 
habits,  the  manners,  the  temper,  the  spirit  of  parishes 
and  people  toward  the  ministry.  If  ministers  owe 
important  duties  to  the  Church,  and  are  bound  by  the 
most  sacred  obligations  to  perform  them,  parishes  and 
people  owe  corresponding  duties  to  their  ministers, 
and  lie  under  equally  solemn  obligations  to  perform 
them.  The  obligations,  like  Irish  reciprocity,  are  not 
all  on  one  side. 

Ministers  are  embassadors  for  Christ;  and,  when 
true  ministers,  they  should  be  received  and  treated 
in  a  manner  worthy  of  their  calling.  Like  civil  em- 
bassadors, they  differ  widely  in  ability  and  power ; 
but  yet  they  are  clothed  with  the  authority  of  heaven, 
and  are  set  apart  for  a  peculiar  work — a  work  on 
whose  successful  performance  the  salvation  of  men. 
hangs  suspended.  And  while,  as  a  rule,  they  draw 
around  them  the  affections  of  the  best  and  the  good, 
yet  are  they  often  spoken  of  and  treated  in  a  way 


PREACHEKS  AND  PREACHING.  247 


Wrong  views.  Talents. 


which  renders  their  character  as   embassadors  for 
Christ  subordinate  to  something  else. 

Some  regard  the  ministry  only  when  connected 
with  high  talent.  Hence,  when  a  church  is  seeking 
a  pastor,  the  great  inquiry  is  as  to  his  talents.  If 
these  are  high  and  commanding,  other  defects  fall  into 
the  shade.  Talents  are  God's  gifts ;  it  is  a  cause  of 
thankfulness  to  see  them,  as  in  the  case  of  Moses, 
Paul,  Pascal,  Luther,  Edwards,  Hall,  Chalmers,  con- 
secrated to  the  services  and  duties  of  the  ministry ; 
but  the  men  of  the  greatest  genius  have  not  been  the 
most  successful  ministers.  Dr.  A.  was  a  man  of  the 
very  highest  reputation  as  a  scholar,  orator,  and  lo- 
gician ;  and  plain  Mr.  B.  was  scarcely  known  beyond 
the  bounds  of  the  city ;  and  yet  the  ministry  of  the 
one  was  barren  of  results,  while  that  of  the  other  was 
eminently  successful.  The  treasure  is  put  into  earthen 
vessels,  that  the  excellence  of  the  power  may  appear 
to  be  of  God.  On  going  to  hear  Dr.  Calamy,  Dr.  Owen 
felt  disap|)ointed  on  seeing  a  very  plain  man  ascend- 
ing the  pulpit.  His  simple,  fervent  prayer  deeply  in- 
terested him ;  his  sermon  delighted  him,  as  it  cleared 
away  doubts  from  his  mind  which  had  long  distressed 
him.  How  often  are  simple-hearted  people  led  to 
Christ  by  the  simple  truth  so  presented  as  often  to 
excite  opposition  in  the  minds  of  those  who  are  less 
interested  in  the  truth  than  in  the  garb  in  which  it 
is  presented !  Jay  tells  us  of  a  spruce  young  minis- 
ter, of  ''  the  spread  eagle"  stamp,  who  was  ridiculing 
a  very  plain  but  laborious  and  useful  pastor  in  a  pro- 


248       PEEACHEKS  AND  PEEACHING. 

A  reproof.  Genius.  Inquiry  for  a  minister. 

miscuous  company.  A  senior  minister  thus  reproved 
him  :  ''  Sir,  I  never  heard  any  one  admire  you  except 
yourself,  but  I  have  heard  many  speak  well  of  the 
labors  of  this  good  man  ;  I  have  never  heard  of  any 
good  you  have  done,  but  I  have  recently  admitted 
two  persons  to  my  church  who  were  brought  to  the 
knowledge  of  Christ  under  his  ministry." 

Parishes  and  people  greatly  mistake  in  placing  too 
high  a  value  upon  mere  talent  in  the  ministry.  It 
is  not  the  best  gift  in  any  department  of  life  unless 
rightly  controlled  and  directed.  The  finest  genius 
does  not  make  the  best  merchant,  or  banker,  or  law- 
yer, or  doctor,  or  politician.  Genius,  like  steam,  to 
work  well,  must  be  kept  under  control,  otherwise  it 
may  produce  disaster  and  ruin.  The  earnest,  sincere, 
plodding  minister  will  be  of  more  permanent  use  to 
a  people  than  the  mere  genius  who  occasionally  roars 
like  the  thunder,  and  coruscates  like  the  liglitning, 
and  then  goes  to  rest  until  some  new  occasion,  like 
the  meeting  of  clouds,  produces  again  a  new  and 
brilliant  explosion.  And  the  most  feeble  congrega- 
tions are  falling  into  this  mistake.  They  all  need 
men  of  talents.  A  plain  elder  called  upon  a  pastor 
to  inquire  as  to  a  minister  for  his  church.  ''What 
kind  of  a  minister  do  you  want?"  said  the  pastor. 
"  Oh,"  said  he,  "  we  have  a  very  peculiar  people ;  we 
are  made  up  of  atheists,  and  infidels,  and  Universal- 
ists,  and  of  people  following  all  kinds  of  errors,  and 
we  need  a  man  of  learning  to  confute  them  all,  and 
a  man  of  eloquence  to  attract  them  all,  and  a  man  of 


PREACHERS  AND   PREACHING.  249 

An  answer.  Piety  and  genius.  Judiciousness. 

good  manners  to  please  tliem  all."  "What  about 
piety?"  said  tlie  pastor.  "  Ob,  we  need  a  pious  man 
too,"  was  tbe  reply,  witb  a  tone  somewbat  lowered. 
And  tbis  was  an  elder  from  a  small  congregation  in 
a  mountainous  district  of  tbe  country,  to  reach  wbicb 
was  a  task  of  no  little  dif&culty.     Tbe  pastor  told 

bim  tbat  tbe  celebrated  Dr.  ,  tben  enjoying  a 

world-wide  fame,  migbt  possibly  suit  tbem.  Tbey 
migbt  call  bim,  but  it  was  doubtful  wbetber  be  would 
come  for  tbeir  salary.  Tbe  elder  bad  wit  enough  to 
see  tbe  irony,  and  laughed  at  his  and  tbeir  folly  as 
heartily  as  tbe  pastor. 

Genius  in  a  minister  is  good,  but  earnest  piety  and 
industry  are  better.  Tbe  truly  godly,  laborious  min- 
isters have  been  tbe  pillars  of  tbe  Church ;  men  of 
distinguished  ability,  with  little  else,  if  not  its  cor- 
rupters and  disturbers,  have  been  little  more  than  its 
ornaments.  A  church  was  divided  between  two  can- 
didates for  the  pulpit — the  one  bad  genius,  and  elo- 
quence, and  impressiveness  of  address ;  the  other  was 
solid,  and  scholarly,  and  laborious,  and  truly  pious. 
The  first  carried  tbe  vote  of  tbe  people ;  tbe  friends 
of  the  other  withdrew,  and,  forming  a  new  congrega- 
tion, settled  bim.  They  labored  side  by  side  for  years. 
Tbe  man  of  genius  went  down  to  tbe  bottom,  the 
other  went  up  to  tbe  top.  And  this  is  but  an  instance 
of  cases  which  will  occur  to  every  mind. 

When  judicious  men  even  buy  a  horse,  they  desire 
one  tbat  works  steady  in  the  traces ;  so,  when  they 
need  a  lawyer  or  physician,  they  employ  those  who 
L2 


250  PREACHEES  AND  PREACHING. 

A  mistaka  An  illustration.  An  aphorism. 

have  patience  to  examine  their  cases  and  industry  to 
attend  to  them.  Why  should  it  be  different  with 
churches  in  calling  a  pastor?  That  it  is  so  is  very 
obvious.  Talents  are  placed  before  piety,  eloquence 
before  solid  instruction,  and  self-conceit  is  often  per- 
mitted, with  iron  shoes,  to  walk  over  modest  worth. 

The  Eev.  Mr. is  very  smart.     He  dresses  in 

taste.  He  is  full  of  himself  to  an  overflow.  He  is 
always  ready  for  any  exhibition  of  his  parts — when 
he  is  to  be  reported.  He  tells  a  story  well.  He  some- 
times hits  the  nail  on  the  head,  but  more  frequently 
misses  it.  He  can  talk  on  any  subject,  whether  he 
understands  it  or  not.     Men  of  sense  understand  him. 

And  yet  Mr. is  a  very  popular  man ;  the  ladies 

admire  his  fancy ;  some  peopl^  consider  him  an  orna- 
ment to  the  country.  And  he  would  please  three 
congregations  in  which  a  man  tenfold  his  superior  in 
every  thing  but  appearance  and  confidence  would 
be  voted  a  bore.  It  would  seem  as  if  the  error  of 
congregations  and  people  here  was  beyond  correction. 
They  forget  that  the  clock  which  strikes  twelve  the 
first  time  does  not  strike  thirteen  the  next,  and  may 
strike  one.  And  so  often  have  we  seen  this  mistake 
made,  and  by  the  same  people,  that  we  are  forced  to 
a  full  belief  in  the  aphorism  of  good  Dr.  Miller,  and 
which  he  was  so  fond  of  repeating,  "Almost  nobody 
has  got  no  sense."  The  parish  and  peojDle  that  place 
talents  and  show  before  piety  and  devotedness  are 
sure  to  reap  their  reward. 

Some  people  are  entirely  wrapped  up  in  their  fa- 


PREACHERS  AKD   PREACHING.  251 

The  favorite.  Hearers.  A  moving  scene. 

vorite.  Of  course,  when  a  people  have  selected  a  pas- 
tor from  all  others,  they  should  prefer  him  to  all 
others ;  this  is  both  natural  and  allowable.  But  this 
is  a  different  thing  from  feeling  that  nobody  else  is 
worth  hearing.  This  latter  is  very  sinful,  and  is  alike 
injurious  to  minister  and  people.  How  many  there 
are  who  go  to  church  when  their  idol  preaches,  and 
who  stay  at  home  when  he  does  not !  How  many 
there  are  who  watch  the  pulpit  to  see  who  enters  it, 
and  who  go  away  unless  their  favorite  is  there !  These 
go  not  to  worship,  nor  to  learn,  but  to  hear  the  man 
of  pleasant  voice,  of  a  lively  imagination — whose  ser- 
mons are  so  pleasant,  or  so  stirring,  or  so  funny,  or 
so  full  of  incident.  We  went  on  a  certain  occasion 
to  hear  one  of  the  popular  sensation  preachers.  The 
house  was  crowded.  Benches  were  in  the  aisles. 
Soon  a  stranger  entered  the  pulpit,  and  the  crowd 
about  the  door  disappeared  at  once.  The  benches 
and  some  of  the  pews  were  soon  emptied,  and  very 
soon  we  could  gain  a  comfortable  seat.  And  the 
strange  preacher  delivered  a  sermon  in  truthfulness 
and  power  such  as  we  have  but  rarely  heard,  and 
such  as  the  preacher  who  drew  crowds  could  no  more 
write  than  he  could  the  Novum  Organum,  or  Paradise 
Lost.  In  fact,  the  true  worship  of  God  is  very  much 
forgotten  by  multitudes  who  go  to  fashionable 
churches,  and  to  hear  popular  preachers  on  the  Sab- 
bath. They  go  to  see,  or  to  be  seen,  or  to  be  pleased, 
not  to  worship  or  to  be  instructed.  And,  as  said  a 
worn-out,  godly,  but  old-fashioned  minister  to  a  young 


252  PREACHERS  AND   PREACHING. 

Fastidiousness,  Its  punishment.  Ministers  men. 

pastor  wlio  invited  him  to  preach,  for  him,  ''Oh," 
said  he,  "your  people  will  not  receive  the  Gospel 
unless  it  is  served  up  to  them  in  silver  dishes  with 
golden  spoons." 

Conduct  like  this  will  bring,  sooner  or  later,  its 
own  punishment.  If  the  minister  is  a  good  man,  he 
may  be  removed.  May  it  not  be  that  the  idolatry 
with  which  a  Heber,  a  Spenser,  a  M'Cheyne,  a  Sum- 
merfield  were  regarded,  was  the  cause  of  their  re- 
moval ?  God  will  not  give  his  glory  to  another,  nor 
permit  even  his  own  best  servants  to  divide  it  with 
him ;  and,  if  they  are  permitted  to  live,  he  may  ren- 
der their  service  unprofitable.  To  how  many  par- 
ishes may  not  the  language  of  Paul  to  the  Corinthians 
be  now  addressed :  "  For  ye  are  yet  carnal ;  for  where- 
as there  is  among  you  envying,  and  strife,  and  divi- 
sions, are  ye  not  carnal,  and  walk  as  men?  For 
while  one  saith,  I  am  of  Paul ;  and  another,  I  am  of 
Apollos,  are  ye  not  carnal  ?  Who,  then,  is  Paul,  and 
who  is  Apollos,  but  ministers  by  whom  ye  believed, 
even  as  the  Lord  gave  to  every  man  ?  I  have  plant- 
ed; Apollos  watered;  but  God  gave  the  increase. 
And  every  man  shall  receive  his  own  reward  accord- 
ing to  his  own  labor." 

Ministers  are  men — neither  perfect  nor  faultless. 
The  higher  their  abilities,  the  greater,  often,  are  their 
constitutional  defects;  and  when  high  talents  are 
withheld,  great  moral  virtues  are  often  imparted. 
We  find  the  law  of  compensation  here  as  every 
where  else.    They  are  messengers  to  be  heeded,  and 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.       253 

How  to  be  treated. 

not  idols  to  be  worshiped.  They  are  not  to  be 
abused  for  their  defects,  bnt  to  be  highly  esteemed 
in  love  for  their  works'  sake.  They  are  often  sinful- 
ly praised  and  shamefully  abused  without  good  cause 
for  either. 


254       PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

An  indispensable  power.  To  live  of  the  Gospel. 


CHAPTEE  XXXIY. 

DUTIES   OF  THE   CHURCHES  TO  THE    MINISTRY. 
Duty  of  the  Church  to  sustain  the  Ministry. 

We  have  already,  in  tliese  pages,  perhaps,  suffi- 
ciently set  forth  the  importance  of  the  Christian  min- 
istry to  all  the  institutions  of  men,  civil,  moral,  intel- 
lectual, social,  as  well  as  religious.  Other  professions 
are  important  rightly  to  adjust  and  to  keep  agoing 
the  great  machinery  of  society,  but  the  Christian  min- 
istry is  indispensable.  It  is  that  power  in  the  absence 
of  which  the  entire  machinery  becomes  deranged. 
It  is  ordained  of  Grod  for  the  very  highest  purposes, 
and  has  its  divine  and  just  claims  on  the  Church  and 
people  of  God. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  sustain  its  minister. 
There  is  scarcely  any  need  of  discussing  this  point, 
as  it  is  not  questioned  by  any  who  admit  the  ministry 
to  be  of  divine  appointment,  or  by  very  few  such. 
It  is  the  law  of  the  Church,  and  of  its  head,  that 
^'  they  who  preach  the  Gospel  should  live  of  the  Gos- 
pel." To  live  of  the  Gospel  does  not  mean  a  support 
up  to  the  point  of  merely  living — the  point  just  above 
that  of  starvation — it  means  a  kind  and  liberal  sup- 
port, such  as  other  men  get  in  the  service  of  commu- 
nities or  of  men,  and  suited  to  their  place  and  posi- 
tion.   A  minister  should  be  placed  above  want ;  his 


PEEACHEES  AND  PEEACHING.       255 

The  Savior's  command.  Paul's  argument. 

support  should  enable  him  to  be  honest,  hospitable, 
charitable — to  educate  his  children,  and  to  make  some 
provision  for  old  age,  so  that  when  voice,  and  energy, 
and  strength  fail  him,  he  may  not  go  forth  penniless, 
dependent  on  the  cold  charities  of  even  good  men. 
When  the  Savior  sent  forth  his  apostles,  he  told 
them  to  "provide  neither  gold,  nor  silver,  nor  brass 
in  their  purses ;  nor  scrip ;  neither  two  coats,  neither 
shoes,  nor  yet  staves."  These  were  to  be  provided 
by  others,  and  for  the  all-sufi&cient  reason  that  the 
workman  is  worthy  of  his  hire.  And  Paul,  in  writ- 
ing to  the  Corinthians,  devotes  a  large  part  of  the  9th 
chapter  of  the  First  Epistle  to  an  argument  on  this 
very  topic.  The  God  who  has  instituted  a  Church 
and  a  ministry,  has  also,  from  the  beginning,  ordained 
for  that  ministry  an  adequate  support.  And  so,  with 
few  exceptions,  the  Church  universal  believes.  Nor 
is  there  a  church  in  the  land,  however  small,  which, 
in  securing  the  services  of  a  minister,  does  not  prom- 
ise something  in  the  way  of  an  "  adequate  worldly 
maintenance." 

Nor  has  a  church  a  right  to  defraud  their  minister 
of  what  they  promise,  or  to  be  careless  in  meeting 
their  engagements  with  him,  more  than  they  have  to 
defraud  any  body  else,  or  to  be  careless  in  meeting  a 
note  in  the  bank.  True,  there  is  no  penalty  annexed 
to  failure,  but  God  usually  punishes  it  in  his  own 
way.  A  people  mean  toward  their  minister — that 
screw  him  down  to  the  last  crust — that  fail  to  meet 
his  wants  and  their  promises  punctually,  break  down 


256       PKEACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

A  mean  people  unblessed.  A  starving  profession. 

his  spirits,  and  are  usually  as  the  heath  in  the  desert. 
They  are  a  mean  people  on  whom,  as  on  the  sandy 
desert,  all  culture  is  bestowed  in  vain.  Every  church 
owes  an  adequate  support  to  its  minister,  and  they 
have  no  more  right  to  withhold  it  than  they  have  to 
steal,  or  to  worship  idols.  "  Thou  shalt  not  muzzle 
the  mouth  of  the  ox  that  treadeth  out  the  corn,"  is  a 
command  which  no  people  can  violate  without  injury 
to  all  the  interests  involved. 

And  yet  to  what  an  extent  are  the  obligations  of 
the  Church  to  sustain  the  ministry  violated!  As  a 
rule,  the  ministry  is  a  starving  profession,  especially 
in  these  United  States.  In  those  branches  of  the 
Church  which  require  an  educated  ministry,  a  young 
man  in  the  pursuit  of  a  lucrative  business  is  convert- 
ed ;  he  feels  that  he  is  called  to  preach  the  Gospel ; 
he  spends  six  or  eight  years  in  training  for  the  great 
work.  All  the  time  he  has  been  rising  in  thought- 
fulness,  in  knowledge,  in  sensibility,  in  character,  in 
fitness  for  any  of  the  higher  positions  in  life ;  and  yet 
when  prepared  to  be  a  pastor  he  is  offered  a  stipend 
which  a  retail  Broadway  merchant  would  be  ashamed 
to  offer  to  a  clerk,  and  often  not  a  fourth  or  fifth  of 
what  a  jobber  in  dry  goods  gives  to  a  salesman  or 
book-keeper !  Two  pious  young  men  were  clerks  in 
the  same  store.  One,  by  far  the  most  gifted,  entered 
the  ministry ;  the  other  kept  on  measuring  tape  and 
calico.  The  minister  is  useful,  beloved,  but  poor  and 
obscure ;  the  other  is  a  good  man,  and  useful  in  his 
way,  and  a  millionaire.     A  young  minister,  at  the 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.       257 

Cases.  Cheap  preaching.  An  humble  ministry. 

age  of  seventeen,  gave  up  a  salary  of  Rye  hundred  a 
year  to  study  for  tlie  ministry.  'He  went  through  a 
regular  academic  and  theological  course,  and  was  then 
settled  on  four  hundred  a  year!  And  his  miserly 
congregation,  that  could  better  afford  to  double  the 
sum  than  to  starve  him,  think  they  give  him  too 
much !  Of  what  use  can  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  be 
to  such  a  people  ?  Their  souls  are  not  large  enough 
to  receive  the  truth.  A  massing  priest  would  do 
them  as  well. 

Many  congregations  go  for  cheap  preaching;  and 
hence,  when  about  to  settle  a  pastor,  they  ask  as  to 
his  father's  circumstances ;  whether  he  possesses,  or 
expects,  a  patrimony ;  whether  his  wife  has  a  fortune 
or  expects  one  ?  If  answered  in  the  affirmative,  other 
things  being  equal,  he  is  the  successful  candidate. 
He  can  live  on  a  smaller  salary,  and,  if  not  paid 
punctually,  he  will  not  be  at  much  inconvenience; 
he  has  a  private  purse ! 

And  then  some  of  the  very  pious  ones  who,  for  a 
pretense,  make  long  prayers,  are  greatly  exercised  for 
the  humility  of  their  minister.  It  is  necessary  to  that 
end  to  keep  him  poor !  They  do  not  so  reason  as  to 
themselves,  for  they  may  be  adding  house  to  house 
and  field  to  field  yearly,  without  in  the  least  degree 
interfering  with  their  humility.  They  would  keep  the 
minister  poor  to  save  their  pockets,  and  then  cover  up 
the  hypocrisy  under  the  cloak  of  desiring  his  spirit- 
uality !  It  is  a  very  low  and  a  very  wicked  species  of 
Phariseeism  to  plead  for  the  cultivation  of  the  spirit- 


258  PEEACHERS  AND   PREACHING. 

A  wicked  apology.  Men  for  all  stipends.  The  blame. 

Tiality  of  a  pastor  by  way  of  apology  for  cheating 
him. 

And  for  this  religious  covetousness  and  pious  hy- 
pocrisy ministers  themselves  are  very  much  to  blame. 
We  have  known  some  to  underbid  one  another !  It 
is  no  uncommon  thing  for  one  possessing  more  patri- 
mony than  ability  to  write,  "  The  salary  is  of  com- 
paratively little  consequence."  To  such  it  might  be 
replied,  Neither  would  be  your  preaching.  As  in 
every  other  department  of  life,  there  is  every  grade 
of  talent  in  the  ministry ;  nor  can  a  stipend  be  fixed 
so  low  as  not  to  be  an  object  to  somebody.  Let  it  be 
only  fifty  dollars  a  year,  and  there  will  be  candidates ; 
but  they  will  be  ffty  dollar  men,  who  will  mete  out 
to  the  people  as  the  people  mete  out  to  them.  And 
yet  there  are  those  who  will  go  for  cheap  ministers, 
who  would  not  employ  a  cheap  doctor  to  cure  them, 
nor  a  cheap  mechanic  to  make  them  a  pair  of  shoes ! 

And  so  ministers  are  to  blame  for  not  teaching  the 
people  the  law  of  Christ,  that  "they  who  preach  the 
Gospel  should  live  of  the  Gospel."  They  have  sub- 
mitted to  the  most  flagrant  impositions  rather  than 
seek  their  redress  by  making  them  known,  and  they 
have  been  only  rewarded  with  more  of  the  same 
thing.  It  is  time  for  them  to  lay  aside  their  squeam- 
ishness,  and  in  modest,  but  manly  tones,  to  assert 
their  rights,  and  thus  to  prevent  the  narrow  covet- 
ousness of  the  Church  from  expelling  from  it  a  noble, 
high-minded,  and  enlightened  ministry.  Such  a  min- 
istry to  the  Church  is  valuable  beyond  all  computa- 


PEEACHEES  AND   PEEACHING.  259 

A  competent  salary.  Illustration.  Consequences. 

tion.  And  it  should  be  sustained  up  to  the  full 
meaning  of  the  rule,  "  They  who  preach  the  Gospel 
should  live  of  the  Gospel."  The  people  who  are  for 
cheap  preaching  usually  have  their  reward. 

A  competent  salary  up  to  the  position  of  the  pas- 
tor and  the  ability  of  a  people  should  be  given  by 
every  congregation.  Fifteen  families  of  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances can  better  support  a  minister  than  do 
without  one.  Six  families  removed  together  to  the 
West,  and  took  with  them  a  minister,  with  this  stipu- 
lation, that  he  would  give  all  his  time  to  them,  and 
that  each  family  w^ould  work  for  him  one  day  in  the 
week.  And  they  were  signally  prospered,  and  grew 
into  a  noble  community.  The  people  that  comj)el  a 
minister  to  teach  school,  or  to  cultivate  a  farm,  or  to 
engage  in  any  secular  business  to  eke  out  a  living, 
when  it  can  possibly  be  helped,  are  inflicting  a  last- 
ing injury  on  themselves.  They  overwork  the  min- 
ister, and  thus  induce  premature  feebleness;  they 
compel  him  to  give  to  other  things  the  time  he  should 
devote  to  them,  and  thus  prevent  him  from  due  jDrep- 
aration ;  they  starve  their  own  minds  and  souls ;  and 
all  for  the  sake  of  saving  a  few  dollars  a  year !  Such 
a  congregation  never  prospers.  It  is  too  mean  to 
grow.  Generous  people  keep  away  from  it,  as  they 
do  from  a  merchant  that  is  noted  for  giving  short 
weight  and  measure — as  they  do  from  those  purists  in 
the  praise  of  God  who  regard  it  as  a  sin  to  sing  any 
thing  in  his  worship  but  the  elegant  version  of  the 
Psalms  by  Eouse. 


260       PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Cases.  Increase  of  salary  easy.  The  ravens. 

In  looking  over  tlie  Cliurcli,  we  note  men  of  the 
finest  character,  education,  and  talents  serving  large 
and  wealtlij  congregations,  and  on  salaries  miserably 
inadequate  to  their  support.  As  judges,  lawyers, 
physicians,  merchants,  they  might  rise  to  eminence 
and  wealth,  but  as  ministers  they  are  subjected  to 
obscurity  and  poverty.  That  they  are  willing  to  do 
so  is  no  excuse  for  the  wicked  penuriousness  of  their 
people,  but  is  to  their  shame  rather.  An  addition 
to  a  minister's  salary  of  five  hundred  dollars  a  year 
would  place  him  above  care  and  want ;  would  enable 
him  to  purchase  books  and  educate  his  family,  and 
pay  his  bills  punctually,  and  give  all  his  time  to 
his  work ;  and  this  would  be  only  five  dollars  each 
to  a  congregation  of  a  hundred  families.  And  yet 
with  what  opposition  a  proposition  like  this  would 
meet  in  the  great  majority  of  congregations !  The 
faith  and  devotedness  of  a  minister  do  not  pay  his 
bills,  nor  clothe  his  family,  nor  feed  his  children,  and 
yet  in  the  proportion  of  the  penuriousness  of  a  peo- 
ple do  they  wish  their  minister  to  live  by  faith.  If 
God  would  send  ravens  to  feed  him  they  would  like 
it  all  the  better ;  for  two  reasons — they  would  be  fully 
satisfied  that  he  was  a  man  of  God,  and  it  would  be 
quite  a  saving  to  them.  We  have  known  quite  a 
sanctimonious  member  of  a  church  to  say  that  he 
could  live  on  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  a  year, 
and  he  did  not  see  why  his  minister  should  need  a 
thousand.  And  he  was  quite  a  farmer,  and  starved 
his  family,  and  gave  not  a  penny  but  for  its  worth, 


PREACHEKS  AND  PREACHIKG.  261 

A  mystery.  "Wliitefield's  advice.  The  sin  of  the  Church. 

and  to  save  tlie  cloth,  stinted  every  garment  in  length, 
and  breadth,  that  he  wore.  If  converted  at  all,  it  is 
one  of  the  mysteries  of  Providence  why  the  Lord 
converts  such  men,  while  the  generous,  the  noble- 
hearted,  the  men  whose  impulses  are  on  the  grandest 
scale,  are  left  in  their  sins.  But,  as  an  old  saint  now 
in  heaven  used  to  say,  "  God  often  ingrafts  his  grace 
upon  a  crab-stalk."  And  as  Whitefield  is  reported 
to  have  said  to  a  young  man  who  asked  his  advice 
as  to  whether  he  should  marry  a  young  lady,  a  pro- 
fessor of  religion  with  a  bad  temper,  or  another  who 
had  an  excellent  disposition,  but  was  not  a  Christian, 
''  Marry,"  said  he,  ''  the  lady  with  a  good  disposition, 
for  God  can  abide  where  you  can  not."  So  God  can 
adopt  into  his  family  many  persons  of  very  narrow 
prejudices,  and  who  make  very  poor  parishioners,  and 
who  are  only  a  thorn  in  the  flesh  of  their  ministers. 

We  have  never  known  a  parish  suffer  from  the 
generous  support  of  its  minister,  while  we  know  of 
many  at  this  hour  suffering  in  all  their  interests  be- 
cause of  their  neglect  of  the  law  of  heaven — "  They 
who  preach  the  gospel  should  live  of  the 
Gospel." 

A  crying  sin  of  the  Church,  in  our  day,  is  its  stint- 
ed support  of  the  ministry.  It  is  a  sin  of  far-reach- 
ing influence.  It  is  so  given  to  muzzle  the  ox  that 
it  may  be  left  without  oxen  to  muzzle. 


262       PREACHEKS  AND  PREACHING. 

Salary  paid  promptly.  Repudiation. 


CHAPTEK  XXXV. 

DUTY  OF  CHURCHES  TO  THE  MINISTRY — Continued, 

Salary  to  be  paid. — Prayer  for  them. 

JSToT  only  should  thej  give  him  a  competent  sal- 
ary, but  they  should  pay  it  when  due.  Materials  for 
a  chapter  on  this  subject,  as  severely  reflecting  upon 
churches  as  any  that  has  been  ever  written,  might 
readily  be  collected  from  any  presbytery,  or  confer- 
ence, or  association,  or  diocese  in  this  land.  The  sin 
of  muzzling  the  ox  that  treadeth  out  the  corn  lies  at 
the  door  of  congregations  connected  with  every  branch 
of  the  Church,  and  often  because  of  the  want  of  spirit 
in  pastors  to  assert  their  rights  and  claim  the  fulfill- 
ment of  pledges  sacredly  made  to  them. 

Some  congregations  commence  thinhing  about  the 
collection  of  the  salary  on  the  day  it  should  be  paid, 
and  pay  part  of  it  a  few  weeks  afterward.  A  part 
of  the  salary  of  each  quarter  is  permitted  to  run  into 
the  next,  until  the  parish  is  hundreds  of  dollars  in 
debt  to  the  pastor.  What  now  is  to  be  done  ?  To 
sue  for  it  would  seem  hard ;  to  insist  on  its  payment 
would  be  unpopular ;  to  permit  it  to  increase  would 
be  adding  to  the  evil;  to  cancel  it,  or  to  dissolve 
the  pastoral  relation,  is  the  only  alternative !  States 
can  not  repudiate  without  losing  their  character,  but 
churches  think  nothing  of  it.    And  thus  parishes  will 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.        263 

Starvation  process  stopped.  A  fair  hit. 

cheat  their  minister  who  would  not  think  of  cheating 
the  carpenter  that  built  their  church,  or  the  sexton  that 
rings  the  bell.  This,  in  many  cases,  is  owing  more  to 
neglect,  and  inattention,  and  to  the  want  of  spirit  in 
the  officers  of  the  church,  than  to  any  purpose  to 
wrong  the  pastor,  and  may  therefore  be  remedied. 
A  young  man  settled  over  a  church  notorious  for 
the  process  of  starving  out  the  minister;  when  the 
first  quarter's  salary  was  due,  the  treasurer  came  with 
a  part  of  it,  promising  the  remainder  in  a  short  time. 
"  Have  I  failed  in  any  of  my  duties  ?"  said  the  pastor. 
"By  no  means,"  was  the  reply.  "Then,"  said  he  to 
the  treasurer,  "you  must  not  fail  in  yours.  You 
have  promised  to  pay  me  my  salary  quarterly,  not  a 
part  of  it ;  I  want  all  of  it,  and  will  take  none  until 
paid  all."  The  treasurer  retired  somewhat  mortified, 
if  not  vexed  by  the  interview.  He  soon  returned 
and  paid  all.  The  salary  was  afterward  paid,  and 
punctually,  to  the  comfort  of  the  pastor  and  to  the 
delight  of  the  people.  The  starvation  process  was 
stopped.  A  pastor  of  a  church  in  New  England,  years 
ago,  sent  for  one  of  the  professional  revivalists  with 
which  the  Church  was  more  infested  then  than  now. 
Before  commencing  his  operations  he  learned  that 
the  church  was  running  yearly  in  debt  to  the  pastor, 
and  was  very  remiss  in  meeting  their  engagements 
with  him.  His  first  address  to  the  people  was  in  sub- 
stance as  follows :  "  You  have  sent  for  me  here  to 
preach  to  you,  and  to  pray  that  the  Lord  may  revive 
his  work  among  you.    You  have  failed  in  your  prom- 


264       PREACHEES  AND  PREACHING. 

A  lying  church.  Privations.  Bees. 

ises  to  pay  your  pastor's  salary,  and  the  Lord  never 
blesses  a  lying  people.  You  must  confess  and  forsake 
the  sin  of  lying  to  your  minister  before  I  begin  my 
work,  for  I  can  not  ask  the  Lord  to  revive  his  work 
in  a  lying  congregation."  This  is  one  of  the  best 
things  I  ever  heard  of  that  class  of  ministers.  The 
people  paid  their  minister,  and  a  great  revival  fol- 
lowed ! 

The  privations  suffered  by  ministers  because  of  the 
neglect  of  their  prompt  payment  are  very  great.  "We 
have  known  some  to  sell  the  best  books  from  their 
libraries  in  order  to  meet  current  expenses,  when  the 
church  owed  them  hundreds  of  dollars.  "We  have 
known  some  compelled  to  keep  their  children  from 
school  because  they  could  not  pay  the  teacher.  We 
have  known  some  to  borrow  money,  and  pay  interest 
for  it,  to  keep  themselves  from  starving.  We  have 
known  an  excellent  pastor  and  preacher  compelled  to 
borrow  from  his  brother  minister  twenty-five  cents  to 
get  his  letters  from  the  post-ofiSce  before  the  law  of 
prepayment  was  enacted !  Such  things  are  a  shame 
and  a  reproach  to  congregations  bearing  the  name  of 
Christian. 

And  so  are  the  ways  and  customs  that  obtain  in 
some  places  of  "  paying  salary."  The  people  pay  in 
the  produce  of  their  fields,  and  cattle,  and  charge  the 
highest  prices.  Or  they  supplement  a  miserable  salary 
by  an  annual  "  bee,"  or  "  visit,"  for  which  every  man, 
woman,  and  child — every  saint  and  sinner  in  the  par- 
ish— is  solicited  to  give  something  to  the  poor  minis- 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  265 

Parish  pauper.  Meanness.  Example. 

ter.  Why  should  not  what  is  given  in  this  way  be 
at  once  added  to  the  salary  ?  Why  should  a  people 
thus  seek  to  compensate  for  their  penuriousness  ? 
Why  should  a  minister  submit  thus  to  be  reduced  to 
the  level  of  a  parish  pauper  ?  There  is  not  a  thing 
to  recommend  these  save  the  bringing  of  the  people 
of  a  parish  together  for  acquaintance  and  social  inter- 
course ;  all  beyond  is  unworthy  of  people  and  preach- 
er. Why  should  not  a  pastor  stand  on  the  same  plat- 
form, as  to  his  support,  as  does  the  doctor,  or  lawyer, 
or  masjistrate,  or  town  clerk  ?  And  the  meanness  of 
some  persons  toward  their  minister  is  almost  beyond 
belief  "How  much  is  your  oats  a  bushel?"  said  a 
pastor  to  one  of  his  wealthy  farmers  as  he  was  riding 
along  by  his  door.  "  Three  shillings, "  was  the  reply. 
It  was  selling  for  25.  6d  in  the  store.  "  Send  me  six 
bushels,"  said  the  minister;  and,  as  he  rode  on,  he 
noted  the  bargain,  with  pencil,  in  his  pocket-book. 
The  pencil-mark  was  faint,  and  the  entry  was  over- 
looked. At  the  end  of  two  years  the  collector  said 
to  him,  "Mr.  B.  has  not  paid  his  pew-rent  for  now 
eight  quarters ;  he  says  he  has  an  account  with  you ; 
that  you  owe  him  for  oats."  At  once  remembering 
the  transaction,  he  rode  to  his  house  and  paid  him, 
he  charging  two  years'  interest  on  18  shillings !  Aft- 
er some  more  dunning  he  paid  his  back  pew-rent, 
with  some  grumbling,  but  paid  no  interest  on  it !  All 
such  men  should  be  expelled  from  the  Church  of 
God;  they  are  too  mean  to  be  respectable  sinners, 
much  less  to  be  Christians !  ' 

M 


266  PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

The  radical  error.  Importance  of  the  Gospel. 

The  radical  difficulty  we  find  in  tlie  little  value 
placed  upon  religious  instruction  and  spiritual  things. 
And  yet  a  faithful  Gospel  ministry  is  of  the  last  im- 
portance to  a  community.  In  its  absence  every  vice 
flourishes  and  every  virtue  languishes.  If  one  vice 
costs  more  than  two  children,  the  sins  and  vices  which 
the  Sabbath  and  a  faithful  ministry  would  prevent 
would  cost  twenty-fold  more  than  the  maintenance 
of  the  ordinances  of  the  Gospel  at  the  highest  point 
of  vigor  and  energy.  A  community  without  a  Gos- 
pel !  "  There  is  nothing  worth  living  for,"  says  the 
Eev.  Dr.  Spring,  "  in  such  a  community.  It  may  be 
rich  in  rivers,  in  ore,  and  luxuriant  in  soil ;  it  may 
be  well  watered  as  the  plains  of  Sodom,  and  as  ac- 
cursed as  they.  I  would  not  educate  a  family  in  such 
a^community  for  all  the  prairies  between  Alleghany 
and  the  Eocky  Mountains."  And  when  we  add  to 
the  temporal  benefits  which  it  confers,  the  eternal 
blessings  for  which  it  gives  a  preparation,  we  will 
then  see  that  there  is  not  a  class  of  men  upon  earth 
more  worthy  of  an  adequate  and  prompt  maintenance 
than  are  the  faithful  ministers  of  the  Gospel.  And 
yet  there  are  those  blessed  in  their  own  souls  and  in 
their  families  by  their  labors  who  would  keep  them 
so  poor  as  to  destroy  their  independence,  and  who 
would  drive  them  from  the  care  of  souls  to  the  most 
anxious  care  for  their  families.  Just  at  this  point 
the  Church  stands  on  a  very  slippery  place.  It  is 
driving  young  men  of  intelligence  and  enterprise 
from  the  ministry,  and  is  discouraging  those  already 


PEEACHEKS  AND  PEEACHING.        267 

A  slippery  place.  Prayer  for  ministers. 

in  her  service.  There  are  Levites  for  all  altars,  and 
missionaries  for  all  errors,  and  preachers  for  all  prices ; 
and  when  the  Church,  by  its  penuriousness,  has  driven 
from  her  ministry  all  save  those  to  whom  her  pittance 
may  be  more  than  they  can  elsewhere  secure,  it  needs 
no  prophet  to  predict  the  result.  "Who  goeth  a 
warfare  at  any  time  at  his  own  charges?"  What 
soldier  in  war  is  called  upon  to  support  himself?  If 
you  force  him  to  do  it,  you  make  him  a  robber ;  and 
the  minister  driven  to  support  himself  is  compelled 
to  be  a  man  of  the  world. 

People  should  pray  for  their  ministers.  In  all  the 
range  of  objects  of  intercession  there  are  none  more 
needy  subjects.  Paul,  with  all  his  splendid  gifts  and 
rich  graces,  besought  Christians  to  pray  that  utter- 
ance might  be  given  him,  that  he  might  open  his 
mouth  boldly.  And  if  Paul  needed  the  prayers  of 
Christians,  what  minister  can  do  without  them  ?  They 
need  all  the  grace  of  the  private  Christian,  and,  in  ad- 
dition, grace  for  the  right  discharge  of  all  their  high 
spiritual  duties.  And  the  reflex  influence  of  prayer 
for  a  pastor  upon  the  people  is  very  great.  One  of 
the  greenest  spots  upon  earth  was  the  parish  of  St. 
Peter's,  Dundee,  when  the  lonely  M'Cheyne  was  its 
pastor.  He  thus  records,  in  his  diary,  the  spirit  of 
|)rayer  which  prevailed  among  his  people:  "Many 
prayer-meetings  were  formed,  some  of  which  were 
strictly  private,  and  others,  conducted  by  persons  of 
some  Christian  experience,  were  open  to  persons  un- 
der concern  at  one  another's  houses.     At  the  time  of 


268  PBEACHERS  AKD  PREACHING-. 

M'Cheyne.  Stoddard. 

my  return  from  the  mission  to  the  Jews,  I  found 
thirty-nine  such  meetings  held  lueekly^  in  connection 
with  the  congregation."  Oh,  that  this  beautiful  in- 
stance of  co-operation  with  a  minister  by  the  people 
prevailed  in  all  our  churches !  When  shall  this  pat- 
tern be  imitated  ?  This  is  the  earnestness  of  religion. 
Ministers  will  never  labor  in  vain  among  such  a 
people.  With  such  a  people  to  pray  for  them,  holy 
M'Cheynes  might  be  greatly  multiplied  all  over  the 
Church.  Will  not  professing  Christians  ponder  this  ? 
It  is  narrated  of  the  Kev.  Solomon  Stoddard  that, 
soon  after  his  settlement  in  Northampton,  his  people 
became  convinced  that  he  gave  no  evidence  of  seri- 
ous piety.  They  loved  him  much,  and  greatly  ad- 
mired his  talents,  and  did  not  wish  to  part  with  him. 
Their  recourse  was  to  prayer.  A  day  was  set  apart 
by  the  people  to  pray  for  his  conversion.  Seeing  the 
people  going  to  the  church,  he  asked  a  plain  man  on 
his  way  there,  "What  is  going  on  to-day?"  The 
reply  was,  "The  people,  sir,  are  going  to  meet  to 
pray  for  your  conversion."  Smitten  to  the  heart,  he 
said,  "  Then  it  is  time  I  prayed  for  myself"  He  went 
to  his  closet,  and  the  people  to  the  church.  They 
both  met  at  the  throne  of  grace  for  the  same  object ; 
and,  while  they  were  speaking,  they  were  heard  and 
answered.  There  was  no  question  as  to  his  conver- 
sion afterward.  He  labored  among  them  for  half  a 
century,  deservedly  ranked  among  the  most  able  and 
useful  ministers  of  his  age.  This  was  in  the  olden 
time!    When  people  pray  more  for  their  ministers, 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.       269 

Fault-finders.  Cured  by  prayer. 

there  will  be  better  preachers  and  far  better  hearers. 
The  captions,  fanlt-finding,  complaining  members  of 
chnrches,  who  are  never  satisfied — who,  if  they  have 
nothing  else  to  fret  them,  will  complain  of  the  color 
of  the  minister's  hair,  or  of  the  tie  of  his  cravat,  or 
of  the  way  he  pronounces  Beelzebub  or  Canaan,  are 
but  rarely  seen  in  the  place  where  prayer  is  wont  to 
be  made.  We  have  known  a  venerable,  learned,  elo- 
quent, and  pious  senator  melted  under  a  sermon  in 
which  a  little  bit  of  a  Yankee  schoolmaster,  who  look- 
ed like  a  note  of  interrogation,  and  whose  thoughts 
never  rose  higher  than  syntax,  could  see  nothing  but 
what  was  worthy  of  censure.  The  more  people  pray 
for  their  minister,  the  more  they  will  be  edified  by 
his  services ;  and  the  more  intelligent  they  are,  the 
more  will  they  overlook  the  defects  of  an  earnest 
ministry. 


270       PKEACHERS  AND  PREACHIKG. 

Ministers  assailed.  A  good  fight. 


CHAPTER  XXXYI. 

DUTY  OF  CHURCHES  TO  THE  MINISTRY — Continued, 
Should  protect  its  Reputation. 

Churches  should  guard  well  the  character  and 
reputation  of  the  ministry.  As  a  faithful  minister 
sets  himself  in  opposition  to  all  error  and  sin,  and  is 
the  open  advocate  of  all  truth  and  virtue,  he  is  liable 
to  assault  from  the  wicked,  the  erring,  and  even  from 
those  professing  a  formal  belief  in  the  truth ;  and,  as 
a  man's  worst  foes  are  often  those  of  his  own  house- 
hold, so  the  worst  enemies  of  ministers  are  often  pro- 
fessing Christians  and  the  persons  they  have  most 
sought  to  benefit.  Christ  came  to  his  own,  and  his 
own  received  him  not.  He  was  crucified  by  the  peo- 
ple he  came  to  save ;  and  if  not  one  of  his  apostles 
died  a  natural  death,  how  can  their  faithful  successors 
expect  exemption  from  all  opposition?  The  minis- 
try is  a  "  good  fight ;"  and  to  fight  it  well  exposes  to 
persecution,  and  reproach,  and  to  all  the  fiery  darts 
which  fill  the  quivers  of  the  wicked ;  and  often,  the 
more  faithful,  the  more  assailed ;  and  the  more  faith- 
less and  time-serving,  the  more  they  are  saluted  with 
hosannas.  There  are  instances  evermore  recurring 
when  the  populace  crucify  Jesus,  and  set  Barabbas 
at  liberty.     But  the  duty  of  a  people  is  plain  to  guard 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.       271 

Ways  of  attack  various.  Loving  pre-eminence. 

well  the  reputation  of  their  minister  when  unjustly 
assailed. 

And  the  ways  in  which  the  peace  of  congregations 
is  broken  and  pastors  are  maligned  are  very  vari- 
ous. 

One  man,  notorious  for  passion,  and  truthlessness, 
and  kindred  vices,  objected  to  his  pastor  because  he 
was  not  pious  enough  for  him.  This  is  often  the 
bush  from  which  graceless  and  prayerless  church 
members  shoot  their  arrows.  This  is,  as  a  rule,  only 
a  pious  cloak  to  cover  a  malignant  heart  and  tongue. 

Another  man,  self-willed  to  a  proverb,  and  as  Scyth- 
ian-faced as  the  "pretenders"  rebuked  by  the  Sav- 
ior (Matt.,  vi.,  16),  would  disturb  a  congregation  and 
turn  away  a  minister  because  they  would  use  a  wick- 
ed Melodeon  in  the  praise  of  the  sanctuary !  Such 
devotees  to  prejudice  are  too  numerous;  they  reject 
all  who  will  not  burn  incense  to  "their  drag;"  and 
when  rejected  in  turn,  they  are  envious  of  the  repu- 
tation of  martyrs  to  principle. 

Another  man,  because  he  was  not  elected  an  elder, 
blamed  the  minister  for  his  defeat,  turned  against 
him,  and  sought  in  all  ways  to  impede  his  usefulness. 
He  finally  made  a  party  against  him,  which,  by  dint 
of  effort,  he  rolled  up  to  an  importance  which  induced 
the  pastor,  revered  for  his  piety  and  fidelity,  to  re- 
move. There  are  too  many  that,  like  Diotrephes, 
love  the  pre-eminence,  and  who  seek  it  at  whatever 
expense — whose  motto  is  "  Eule  or  ruin."  These  are 
in  the  Church  and  in  the  state,  and  are  a  nuisance 


272  PREACHEKS  AND   PREACHING. 

A  politician.  A  talking,  fickle  elder. 

every  where.  And  it  is  in  tlie  Churcli  as  in  the 
state :  those  who  earnestly  seek  place  are  those  un- 
fitted for  it,  and  who,  when  they  obtain  it,  make  the 
worst  use  of  it. 

Another  man,  a  hot  politician,  heard  his  pastor 
preach  a  sermon  which  he  supposed  bore  hard  on  his 
favorite  candidate  for  the  chief  magistracy.  The  of- 
fense was  unpardonable,  as,  although  a  high  professor, 
he  never  forgave.  Forgiveness  was  not  in  his  creed. 
And,  alas !  how  many  there  are  like  him,  who  yet 
pray,  "  Forgive  us  our  debts  as  we  forgive  our  debt- 
ors." That  is,  they  pray  God  never  to  forgive  them ! 
He  persecuted,  and  prosecuted  his  minister  before  the 
courts  ecclesiastic,  and  finally  succeeded  in  driving 
him  away. 

Another  man,  an  elder,  was  a  man  of  many  proj- 
ects. He  was  a  follower  of  every  "Lo!  here,"  and 
"  Lo !  there."  Now  it  was  one  thing,  now  another. 
The  novelty  of  yesterday  was  laid  aside  for  the  nov- 
elty of  to-day.  He  could  turn  round  as  fast  and  as 
facile  as  the  vane  on  the  steeple.  JSTow  it  was  anti- 
slavery — now  it  was  ultra  temperance,  now  it  was 
new  measures — now  it  was  the  second  coming  of 
,  Christ.  He  needed  excitement  as  the  drunkard  needs 
rum,  and  his  pastor  could  not  or  would  not  supply  it, 
nor  could  many  turn  around  as  rapidly  as  he.  He 
set  himself  against  a  minister  known  and  loved  for 
his  sense  and  consistency,  and  succeeded  in  removing 
him.  A  weak,  imstable,  talking  elder,  with  more 
zeal  than  sense,  given  more  to  fuss  and  show  than  to 


PKEACHEKS  AND  PREACHING.       273 

A  complaint.  Makes  a  case.  Sin  of  parents. 

quiet  working  in  his  place,  is  a  great  injury  to  a 
church,  and  is  no  comfort  to  a  minister,  save  to  one 
tuned  Hke  himself.  Yery  many  of  the  difiSculties  we 
have  known  in  congregations  have  arisen  from  such 
men ;  and  the  ircensoriousness  is  always  in  the  pro- 
portion of  their  flaming  zeal. 

"Our  minister  is  no  benefit  to  my  children;  not 
satisfied  with  his  preaching,  they  are  going  to  other 
churches,"  said  an  elder  of  a  church  one  day  to  a 
neighboring  pastor.  On  inquiry,  it  was  found  that 
this  elder  had  been  a  subject  of  discipline  for  alleged 
dishonesty  in  some  business  transactions,  and  that, 
because  his  minister  could  not  fully  sustain  him,  he 
turned  against  him.  He  neglected  his  duties,  staid 
away  from  the  communion,  and  so  poisoned  the  minds 
of  his  children  that,  with  his  free  consent,  and  perhaps 
advice,  they  went  to  other  churches  in  order  to  make 
a  strong  case  against  the  pastor.  And  then  the  state 
of  things  which  he  himself  produced  he  used  as  an 
argument  against  the  continuance  of  the  minister! 
He  was  frankly  told  that  he  himself,  and  not  his  faith- 
ful and  excellent  pastor,  was  the  guilty  cause  of  the 
evils  of  which  he  complained.  And  how  many  pa- 
rents effectually  erase  the  impressions  made  by  the 
truth  from  the  minds  of  their  children  by  their  censo- 
rious manner  of  talking  about  the  preacher,  by  their 
flippant  manner  of  talking  about  his  sermons  and  per- 
formances !  Many  children,  from  under  the  ministry 
of  the  most  faithful  men,  are  evermore  going  to  ruin 
and  to  death,  whose  blood  will  be  found  in  the  skirts 
M2 


274       PREACHEES  AND  PREACHING. 

Advice  to  church  members.  A  quack. 

of  parents,  and  for  the  above  cause.  Are  yon  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  ?  Then  shut  your  ears  against  all 
disparaging  remarks  on  the  character  and  perform- 
ance of  your  minister,  especially  when  made  by  the 
habitually  censorious,  of  whom  there  are  too  many  in 
every  community,  and  in  connection  with  every 
church.  Are  you  parents  ?  Let  every  word  you  ut- 
ter about  your  pastor  be  such  as  to  increase  the  re- 
spect and  love  of  your  children  for  him.  What  fa- 
ther and  mother  say  comes  to  them  with  the  force  of 
law  and  authority,  and  one  unguarded  remark  may 
injure  them  forever.  They  are,  by  nature,  suf6.ciently 
adverse  to  pastoral  instruction  without  being  stimu- 
lated by  parental  influences. 

A  physician — a  quack,  and  miserable  even  at  that 
— was  attached  to  a  church.  His  piety  and  prescrip- 
tions were  about  on  a  par,  the  difference  being  rather 
in  favor  of  the  latter.  He  drove  away  one  minister 
because  he  would  not  employ  him,  and  he  was  fore- 
most in  the  getting  of  another  on  whose  support  he 
calculated.  The  new  minister  employed  another  doc- 
tor on  his  first  need  of  one ;  at  once  the  affections  of 
the  quack  fell  from  summer  heat  to  zero.  ISTow  he 
was  understood,  and  his  opposition  to  the  minister 
was  his  ruin.  His  flagrant  selfishness  caused  ever}^ 
body  to  canvass  his  skill  and  character,  and  there  was 
no  more  call  for  his  calomel. 

Mr.  John  Stillwell  was  a  distiller  and  brewer.  By 
the  making  of  whisky  and  beer  he  became  the  wealth- 
iest man  in  the  parish.     He  was  tall  and  portly,  and, 


PREACHERS  AND   PREACHING.  275 

John  Stillwell.  Hard  case.  Why  a  difference. 

as  was  apparent  from  his  face,  a  free  liver.  He  was, 
in  addition,  liberal  in  the  use  of  his  money.  He  was 
popular  with  the  masses,  and  rose  in  civil  and  mili- 
tary life  to  the  rank  of  alderman  and  colonel.  He 
was  the  largest  supporter  of  the  congregation,  and  the 
warmest  friend  of  the  minister,  up  to  the  time  of  the 
preaching  of  a  sermon  on  the  manufacture,  the  sale, 
and  the  use  of  strong  drink.  That  sermon  cooled  the 
affection  of  Mr.  Stillwell,  and  caused  him  to  withdraw 
his  support.  He  never  could  hear  that  minister  again 
— he  could  not  conscientiously.  Even  Mr.  Stillwell 
made  pretense  to  a  conscience  on  the  subject.  The 
congregation  could  not  do  without  the  support  of  Mr. 
Stillwell,  and  the  faithful  pastor  had  to  quit. 

And  all  these  are  but  specimens  of  the  ways  in 
which  ministers  are  annoyed  and  impeded  in  their 
work  from  within  the  Church  and  from  without  it. 
Why  should  a  pastor  be  held  to  account  more  than 
any  other  virtuous  citizen  as  to  the  physician  he  should 
employ ;  as  to  the  private  opinions  on  politics  he  may 
adopt ;  as  to  the  mechanic  he  may  employ ;  as  to  the 
store  in  which  he  keeps  his  accounts ;  as  to  the  wife 
he  may  marry ;  as  to  the  school  he  may  select  for  his 
children ;  as  to  the  persons  he  may  choose  to  be  his 
bosom  friends?  And  why  should  he  not  be  most 
generously  and  promptly  protected  from  those  never- 
satisfied,  jealous,  envious,  tattling  persons,  who  track 
a  minister,  as  did  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  the  Savior, 
in  order  to  find  fault  in  him ;  and  who,  if  they  find 
no  cause  for  blame,  can  readily  manufacture  them? 


276       PEEACHEES  AND  PEE  ACHING. 

Cowardice.  Base  sinners.  Duty  of  the  Cliurcli. 

A  minister  is  prevented  by  his  profession,  save  in  tlie 
most  flagrant  cases,  from  instituting  process  for  slan- 
der ;  he  mnst  not  return  evil  for  evil ;  lie  must  seek 
to  instruct  those  that  oppose  themselves.  He  is  in 
the  condition  of  the  Christian  man  who  is  insulted  by 
a  heartless  duelist,  knowing  that  he  can  do  a  thing  so 
cowardly  with  impunity,  and  that  no  challenge  will 
be  sent  him.  We  have  known  too  many  such  in- 
stances of  persons  circulating  the  most  baseless  false- 
hoods against  their  own  pastors,  and,  when  proved  to 
be  utterly  baseless,  yet  repeating  them.  We  know  of 
no  sinners  more  base  than  these — none  more  worthy 
to  be  cast  aside  as  Paul  did  the  viper.  By  tarnish- 
ing the  fair  name  of  God's  ministers  and  obstructing 
their  usefulness,  they  serve  the  devil  far  more  effect- 
ually than  do  infidels,  drunkards,  the  profane,  the 
abominable ;  and  the  church,  in  all  such  cases,  should 
make  the  case  of  the  pastor  their  own,  and  should  in- 
terpose its  shield  to  catch  all  the  fiery  darts  aimed  at 
his  character.  And  not  only  so ;  they  should  make 
all  such  persons  feel  that  the  command,  "  Touch  not 
mine  anointed,  and  do  my  prophets  no  harm,"  has 
some  force  and  meaning,  and  that  its  gross  violation 
is  worthy  of  severe  discipline.  We  wish  not  to  be 
misunderstood.  We  have  no  cloaks  for  the  sins  of 
false  prophets,  apostles,  or  ministers — no  excuses  for 
indolence,  worldKness,  intemperance,  or  neglect  of 
duty  in  the  ministry ;  but  we  would  have  a  true  min- 
istry guarded  on  every  hand  from  assaults  on  its  char- 
acter, whether  made  by  the  ungodly  or  by  those  pro- 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  277 

Equals  in  sin.  Inconsistency. 

fessing  godliness ;  and  to  do  this  is  a  duty  whicli  the 
Church  owes  to  itself.  We  would  send  a  Judas  to 
his  own  place,  and  we  would  send  the  malignant  per- 
secutors of  God's  minister  after  him.  They  are  alike 
graceless  and  guilty. 

"We  would  not  be  understood  as  asserting  that  the 
want  of  care  for  the  character  of  the  ministry  is  the 
rule  of  the  Church.  Far  otherwise.  The  instances 
in  which  churches  have  nobly  defended  their  pastors 
from  the  most  wicked  persecutions  are  numerous,  and 
there  is  a  natural  tendency,  even  when  they  do  wrong, 
to  excuse  them.  The  cases  are  many  in  which 
churches  have  clung  to  their  pastors  when  deposed 
from  the  ministry  for  serious  moral  delinquencies  and 
errors,  and  have  gone  out  with  them  into  other  de- 
nominations or  independency ;  but  yet  the  exceptions 
to  the  rule  are  also  many,  in  which  churches,  as  such, 
fail  in  guarding  the  character  of  their  minister,  and 
in  which  they  look  on  and  see  a  few  disaffected  per- 
sons disturbing  his  peace,  fretting  away  his  character 
as  a  moth  doth  a  garment,  and  limiting  his  useful- 
ness. Indeed,  instances  often  occur  in  which  a  peo- 
ple do  all  they  decently  can  for  the  removal  of  a  pas- 
tor, and  then  pass  the  most  eulogistic  resolutions  in 
his  favor  when  they  send  him  afloat,  in  the  decline  of 
his  life,  to  secure  a  living  where  he  can. 


278       PKEACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Gospel  not  understood.  Nor  the  Bible. 


CHAPTER  XXXYII. 

DUTY  OF  CHURCHES  TO  THE  MINISTRY — Continued. 

On  hearing  the  Gospel. 

The  general  effects  of  tlie  Grospel  may  be,  and  oft- 
en are,  very  powerful  for  good,  where  the  Gospel  it- 
self, save  by  the  few,  may  be  but  little  understood. 
There  are  communities  where  all  the  institutions  of 
our  religion  are  honored  and  obeyed  with  marked 
strictness,  where  the  foundations  of  those  institutions 
and  the  reasons  for  them  are  but  little  understood. 
They  are  received  as  are  traditions  by  papists,  and 
are  believed  because  generally  believed.  In  this  re- 
spect people  receive  the  Gospel  very  much  as  they  do 
the  law  of  the  land.  They  know  there  is  a  law. 
They  believe  its  provisions  to  be  wise  and  just. 
They  mean  to  obey  it;  but  as  to  its  special  enact- 
ments and  provisions  they  know  but  little,  and  but 
rarely  inquire,  save  when  they  are  called  before  legal 
tribunals ;  and  even  then  they  leave  the  matter  very 
much  in  the  hands  of  judges,  attorneys,  and  juries. 

There  is  no  book  in  the  world  so  widely  circulated 
and  read  as  is  the  Bible,  and,  considering  all  things, 
beyond  a  certain  line,  there  is  none  so  little  under- 
stood. "While  there  are  grounds  for  various  inter- 
pretations of  its  pages  and  of  some  of  its  doctrines, 
yet  the  main  causes  of  this  are  the  state  of  the  natural 


PEEACHEES  AND  PEEACHING.  279 

Ignorance  of  Christianity.  Causes  why. 

heart,  the  prejudices  with  which  it  is  read,  and  the 
way  and  manner  in  which  it  is  read.  So  there  is  no 
system  of  religion  or  morals  so  universally  expound- 
ed as  is  our  Christianity.  Throughout  Christendom, 
one  day  in  seven  is  given  to  this ;  and,  as  a  class,  the 
expounders  are  the  best  and  the  best-educated  men 
of  the  world,  and  wield  a  strong  influence  over  the 
people  they  address  ;  and  yet  the  real  principles  and 
spirit  of  Christianity  are  but  little  understood  by  the 
masses  before  whom  it  is  expounded,  or  by  multi- 
tudes who  profess  it  before  men.  There  are  many 
intelligent  hearers  and  supporters  of  the  Gospel  who, 
when  convicted  of  sin,  can  not  tell  what  they  must 
do  to  be  saved ;  and  there  are  very  many  communi- 
cants who  can  not  give  a  reason  for  the  hope  that  is 
in  them ;  and  the  extent  to  vhich  this  is  so  is  onl}^ 
known  to  those  who  have  made  inquisition  in  refer- 
ence to  it ;  and  this  is  owing  to  the  way  and  manner 
in  which  the  Gospel  is  heard.  Much,  we  allow,  may 
be  charged  to  the  account  of  the  way  and  manner  in 
which  the  Gospel  is  expounded ;  to  vapid,  disjointed, 
formal,  fanatical,  cold,  erroneous  preaching ;  to  sensa- 
tional instead  of  sensible  preaching ;  but  much  more 
may  be  charged  to  the  manner  in  which  it  is  heard. 

That  a  right  hearing  of  the  Gospel  and  the  salva- 
tion of  the  soul  hold  a  very  intimate  relation  to  one 
another  we  are  taught  both  by  Scripture  and  com- 
mon-sense. The  Gospel  is  the  word  of  truth.  "  Thy 
word  is  truth."  Christ  is  "  the  truth."  We  are  made 
free,  we  are  sanctified,  through  the  truth.     We  can 


280       PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Hearing.  Eight  hearing.  The  fashionable  church. 

only  know  the  truth  by  hearing  or  reading  it.  It 
was  by  the  hearing  of  the  Gospel  that  the  multitudes 
were  saved  at  Pentecost,  and  it  is  by  the  hearing  of 
it  that  the  triumphs  of  the  Gospel  are  now  mainly 
extended.  To  hear  in  order  to  understand ;  to  un- 
derstand so  as  to  be  affected  by  the  truth ;  so  to  be 
affected  by  it  as  to  manifest  it  in  our  actions,  and  so 
to  act  as  to  continue  in  a  fruitful  obedience,  is  the 
only  true  hearing  of  the  Gospel.  Unless  we  thus 
hear,  it  is  all  the  same  as  if  we  heard  not,  save  that 
our  condemnation  may  be  the  deeper.  Unless  we 
thus  hear,  we  might  as  well  be  mumbling  masses  as 
hearing  the  Gospel.  Not  the  hearers,  but  the  doers 
are  commended.     And  how  do  people  hear  ?    • 

Go  into  some  of  our  fashionable  churches  and  see. 
How  richly  attired,  and- with  what  a  stately  tread,  the 
worshipers  enter  the  house  of  God !  How  genteelly 
they  take  their  seats  in  their  elegantly -furnished  pews ! 
How  rarely  they  open  the  Bible  when  it  is  read,  or 
join  in  the  praise  of  the  sanctuary !  How  listlessly 
they  sit  under  the  sermon !  How  politely  they  rec- 
ognize friends  when  the  services  are  ended!  How 
elegant  the  coach  which  meets  them  at  the  door! 
How  sumptuously  prepared  is  the  Sunday  dinner! 
How  utterly  forgotten  in  the  evening  are  the  lessons 
of  the  morning.  To  such  people — and,  alas !  how 
many  such  people ! — the  church  is  simply  what  the 
parade-ground  is  to  the  militia  company — a  place  in 
which  to  display  their  dress.  To  such  the  church  is 
simply  a  place  of  social  gathering  on  Sunday  morn- 


PREACHEES  AND  PREACHING.  281 

Weekly  programme.  Tasteful  hearer. 

ing,  and  the  choir  and  the  preacher  are  for  their  en- 
tertainment. While  there  are  preachers  that  suit 
themselves  to  such  hearers,  yet  such  hearers  are  un- 
benefited  by  any  preaching.  The  Church,  equally 
with  the  theatre  and  the  Opera,  is  on  the  programme 
of  their  weekly  amusement.  In  fifty  years  they  learn 
not  to  repeat  or  to  obey  the  fourth  commandment. 

A  degree  or  two  above  these  is  another  class  of 
hearers,  who  hear  simply  to  gratify  their  taste  or  preju- 
dices. They  go  here  or  there  as  they  expect  to  be 
pleased.  Solid  instruction  is  not  their  object.  As 
saith  the  Prayer-book,  they  never  continue  in  one  stay. 
Like  the  bee  on  a  summer  day,  that  wanders  from 
flower  -to  flower,  now  lighting  upon  the  rose,  now 
upon  the  violet,  now  upon  the  scentless  sunflower, 
which  turns  always  its  brazen  face  to  the  sun,  these 
wander  from  church  to  church,  but,  unlike  the  bee, 
they  collect  no  honey.  These  are  not  composed  of 
the  young  alone :  parents  and  church  o£Q.cers  are  oft- 
en of  their  number.  These  are  not  instructed  by 
any  sermons  they  hear.  Unstable  as  water,  they  can 
not  excel.  One  of  the  most  substantial  men  we  ever 
knew  was  one  who  said  that,  in  thirty  years,  he  nev- 
er entered  a  church  but  his  own  when  it  was  open. 
"  And,"  said  he,  "  when  my  own  church  is  open,  I 
would  not  go  to  hear  a  Chalmers  if  he  preached  in  the 
next  street ;"  and  he  was  as  far  from  bigotry  as  is  the 
Gospel  from  popery  or  Puseyism. 

A  few  degrees  yet  above  these  are  persons  who 
hear  without  any  fixed  resolution  or  purpose  as  to 


282  PREACHERS  AND   PREACHING. 

The  listless  hearer.  The  forgetful.  A  sample. 

obedience.  They  are  good  people;  that  is,  people 
hopefully  converted.  They  are  not  violators  of  the 
commandments,  but  they  are  no  doers  of  them.  They 
learn  not  in  order  to  practice.  They  come  and  go  to 
the  place  of  the  holy,  but,  like  a  door  turning  on  its 
hinges,  they  make  no  advance.  Instruction  seems 
rather  to  be  laid  on  them  than  to  enter  into  them. 
They  never  think  but  when  hearing,  and,  when  hear- 
ing is  ended,  they  think  no  more  of  it.  The  word 
preached  profits  them  not;  and  for  years  together 
they  sit  under  the  most  faithful  and  instructive  preach- 
ing without  making  any  advance  in  the  knowledge 
of  the  truth.  They  are  good  parishioners ;  they  are 
always  in  their  place;  they  respect  their  minister; 
but  they  grow  not  in  knowledge.  "Oh!  what  a  grand 
sermon  we  had  yesterday  from  our  pastor!  I  wish 
you  had  been  there  to  hear  it,"  said  a  New  York  mer- 
chant to  a  friend  in  the  street  on  Monday  morning. 
*'  What  was  his  text  ?"  asked  his  friend.  "  My  mem- 
ory is  very  poor,  and  I  forget  it,"  was  his  reply,  after 
scratching  his  head  in  silence  for  a  brief  time.  "What 
was  his  subject?"  asked  his  friend.  "Well,  I  forget 
that  too,  but  he  treated  it  grandly,"  was  the  repl}^ ; 
"  and  I  wish  you  had  been  there  to  hear  it."  There  is 
no  filling  such  minds  with  truth  any  more  than  there 
is  filling  a  sieve  with  water.  Such  minds  are  like 
the  desert  sands,  which  no  rains  from  heaven,  which 
no  rivers  of  water,  can  fertilize. 

"We  had  a  solemn  service  yesterday  morning," 
said  a  pastor  to  one  of  his  elders  as  he  met  him  in  the 


PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHINa.        283 

The  cold  reply.  A  little  too  long,  Rowland  Hill. 

street  on  Monday.  "Myself  and  wife  were  talking 
over  it,  and  we  both,  concluded  that  the  sermon  was 
a  little  too  long;  we  did  not  feel  very  well,"  was  the 
reply  of  the  elder.  And  there  are  too  many  just  such 
hearers  among  the  elders  and  members  of  our  church- 
es, who  think  less  of  the  truth  presented  than  of  the 
length  of  time  taken  to  communicate  it,  or  than  the 
manner  and  stjde  of  the  preacher.  Perhaps  these 
form  the  majority  of  hearers. 

Eowland  Hill,  a  few  years  before  his  death,  made 
a  visit  to  an  old  friend,  who  said  to  him,  "  Mr.  Hill,  it 
is  just  sixty -five  years  since  I  first  heard  you  preach, 
and  I  remember  your  text  and  a  part  of  the  sermon. 
You  told  us  that  many  people  were  very  squeamish, 
about  hearing  ministers  who  preached  the  same  Gos- 
pel. You  said,  'Suppose  3'ou  were  hearing  a  will 
read  where  you  expected  a  legacy  to  be  left  you, 
would  you  employ  the  time  of  its  reading  in  criticis- 
ing the  manner  in  which  the  lawyer  read  it?  JSTo, 
you  would  not ;  you  would  be  giving  all  ear  to  hear 
whether  any  thing  was  left  you,  and  how  much. 
That  is  the  way  I  would  advise  you  to  hear  the  Gos- 
pel.' "  This  was  advice  worth  remembering  three- 
score and  five  years.  Because  they  have  not  learned 
the  lesson  thus  taught  by  Rowland  Hill,  there  are 
multitudes  who  hear  the  Gospel  very  much  in  vain. 

The  anecdote  illustrating  the  practical  hearing  of 
the  Gospel,  although  often  repeated,  is  yet  worth  re- 
peating a  thousand  times  more.  An  old  lady,  who 
kept  a  little  store,  went  to  hear  a  sermon,  in  which. 


284  PEEACHEES  AND  PEEACHING-. 

I  burned  my  bushel.  Two  hearers.  A  Sabbath  in  Scotland. 

the  use  of  dishonest  weights  and  measures  was  fully 
set  forth.  She  was  deeply  impressed.  The  next  day 
the  minister  called  on  her,  and  took  occasion  to  ask 
her  what  she  remembered  of  the  sermon.  She  com- 
plained of  her  bad  memory,  but  ended  by  saying,  "  I 
remembered — I  remembered  to  burn  my  bushel."  A 
doer  of  the  word  will  not  be  a  forgetful  hearer  of  it. 

A  people  owe  it  to  a  minister  to  wait  on  his  min- 
istry with  regularity  and  with  a  teachable  spirit. 
When  he  is  there  to  preach,  they  should  be  there  to 
hear,  unless  prevented  by  a  sufficient  cause.  The  ob- 
ligation is  reciprocal.  And  they  should  be  there  in 
a  spirit  of  devotion,  to  hear  the  truth,  for  the  purpose 
of  reducing  it  to  practice.  We  remember  two  aged 
hearers  of  the  word.  The  one,  when  he  found  him- 
self a  little  dull,  stood  up  in  his  pew,  that  he  might 
wake  up  his  faculties  to  a  full  and  right  hearing  of 
the  message ;  and,  for  a  plain  man,  he  had  the  best 
knowledge  of  the  Gospel  of  any  man  we  ever  knew. 
The  other  seemed  to  pray  over  every  sentence  utter- 
ed by  the  preacher,  and  to  drink  in  the  truth  as  the 
thirsty  hart  drinks  from  the  water-brook.  And  they 
were  pillars  in  the  Church  in  strength  and  position, 
like  unto  Jachin  and  Boaz  in  the  temple  of  Solomon. 
They  were  not  forgetful  hearers,  but  doers  of  the 
word.     And  better  men  we  have  never  known. 

We  remember  a  Sabbath  in  the  highlands  of  Scot- 
land. The  church  was  in  a  vale  surrounded  by 
mountains  on  all  sides,  up  whose  sides  paths  and 
roads  might  be  seen  winding  up  to  their  summits 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  285 

The  people.  Appearance.  "Worship. 

and  over  them.  As  the  hour  for  morning  worship 
arrived,  the  people  might  be  seen  coming  down  those 
mountain  passes  in  crowds,  and  filhng  the  streets  of 
the  village.  There  were  old  Scots  leaning  on  their 
staffs,  and  their  aged  wives,  with  their  high  caps 
white  as  the  snow ;  and  young  men  and  maidens  in 
great  numbers,  and  each  had  their  Bible  with  the 
Psalms.  The  church  was  crowded.  When  the  min- 
ister read,  every  person  opened  their  Bible  and  fol- 
lowed him.  When  the  psalm  was  named,  every  body 
turned  to  it,  and  every  body  sung.  When  the  text 
was  slowly  announced,  every  body,  old  and  young, 
turned  to  it.  The  rustling  of  the  leaves  of  the  Holy 
Book  filled  the  house  for  a  time.  When  a  proof-text 
was  given,  it  was  turned  to  as  was  the  text.  The 
preacher  was  not  above  the  ordinary,  but  the  sermon, 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  was  healed  with  the 
deepest  interest  by  all.  They  all  seemed  to  enter 
into  the  worship  of  the  occasion  with  the  heart,  and 
to  feel,  during  the  preaching  of  the  sermon,  as  if  God 
was  speaking  through  his  servant.  Such  hearers 
would  make  preachers  any  where ;  and  because  they 
have  not  such  hearers,  many  excellent  ministers  la- 
bor in  vain,  and  spend  their  strength  for  naught.  If 
it  is  the  duty  of  ministers  to  preach  the  Word,  it  is 
the  duty  of  the  people  to  hear  it,  and  so  to  hear  it 
that  it  will  bring  forth  in  them  the  fruit  of  holy  living. 
Philip  Henry  notes  in  his  diary  the  saying  of  a  pi- 
ous hearer  of  his  own  which  deeply  affected  him:  "I 
find  it  easier,"  said  the  good  man,  "  to  go  six  miles  to 


286  PREACHERS  AND   PREACHING. 

Heniy's  hearer.  More  praying. 

hear  a  sermon  than  to  spend  one  quarter  of  an  hour 
in  meditating  and  praying  over  it  in  secret,  as  I  should 
when  I  come  home." 

It  is  very  likely  that  in  our  ''  cities  of  churches" 
there  is  too  much  preaching  for  profitable  hearing. 
One  half  the  preaching,  and  twice  the  praying  to  be 
profited  by  it,  would  greatly  multiply  the  fruitfulness 
of  pastoral  ministrations.  In  vain  is  the  good  seed 
sown  unless  it  is  harrowed  in  by  prayer. 

Too  much  importance  can  not  be  attached  to  a 
right  hearing  of  the  GosjdcL  It  is  not  the  number 
of  sermons  we  hear,  but  the  way  we  hear  them,  that 
benefits  us. 


PBEACHERS  AND   PREACHING-.  287 

Mental  labor.  Little  to  do.  Misconceptions. 


CHAPTER  XXXYIII. 

DUTY  OF  CHURCHES  TO  THE   MINISTRY — Continued. 
The  time  of  a  pastor  should  not  be  wasted. 

People  generally  have  no  idea  of  mental  labor. 
They  know  it  takes  some  time  to  make  a  pair  of 
shoes,  or  a  hat,  or  a  coat,  or  a  table,  or  to  plow  a  field, 
or  to  build  a  shed,  but  they  have  no  idea  of  the  time 
or  labor  it  requires  to  prepare  a  good  sermon.  As  it 
may  be  preached  in  forty  or  fifty  minutes,  they  sup- 
pose it  may  be  prepared  in  twice  that  time.  When 
told  that  some  sermons  have  taken  their  authors  a 
week,  and  even  a  month,  to  write  them,  they  seem 
amazed !  They  think  a  minister  has  but  little  to  do 
who  prepares  07ily  two  sermons  a  week,  and  preaches 
them  on  Sunday !  And  they  have  no  sympathy  with 
the  minister  who  says,  "  I  am  not  prepared,"  when 
called  to  preach  on  a  sudden  emergency.  They  know 
all  about  physical  labor,  but  nothing  about  mental. 
They  know  something  about  raising  a  heavy  weight, 
but  they  know  nothing  about  the  construction  of  an 
argument,  or  the  refutation  of  a  popular  and  plausi- 
ble error,  or  the  placing  of  a  controverted  truth  in  a 
light  which  convinces  all.  In  fine,  the  multitude 
have  no  conception  of  mental  labor ;  and  hence  peo- 


288       PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Writing  sermons.  Desire  for  visits.  The  rule. 

pie  are  so  reckless  as  to  tlie  squandering  of  tlie  time 
of  tlieir  minister ! 

There  are  men  of  peculiar  mental  habits  who  can 
write  a  sermon  in  a  very  short  time,  having  previous- 
ly well  digested  the  matter  of  it.     Such  a  one  is  the 

Eev.  Dr. ,  one  of  the  best  and  most  popular 

preachers  of  the  Church.  But  ordinarily  to  write 
one  good  sermon  a  week,  and  meet  faithfully  his  oth- 
er duties,  fills  up  the  time  of  a  pastor ;  to  write  two, 
if  they  are  worth  hearing  or  worthy  of  himself,  fills  it 
to  an  overflow.  And  yet  there  are  those  who  are 
never  satisfied  unless  they  are  frequently  visited,  and 
who  consider  the  minister  as  wasting  his  time  when 
not  abroad  among  his  people. 

No  minister  can  satisfy  the  desire  for  family  visit- 
ation. Some  are  satisfied  with  a  visit  once  a  year, 
but  some  require  one  weekly.  There  is  less  piety 
than  vanity  in  this.  They  wish  to  be  considered  in- 
timate with  the  minister,  and  to  have  more  of  his  re- 
gard and  confidence  than  others.  And  somo  minis- 
ters are  seduced  into  these  frequent  visitations  by  the 
adulation  with  which  they  are  greeted,  as  flies  are  at- 
tracted by  the  blaze  of  a  candle.  They  should  be  es- 
teemed highly  in  love  for  their  work's  sake,  but  re- 
gard for  their  work  should  prevent  abstracting  their 
time  from  it.  And  a  minister,  like  a  physician  in 
large  practice,  should  be  required  to  visit  his  people 
only  when  there  is  a  call  for  it. 

''  Why  do  you  not  come  to  our  store  and  read  the 
paper  in  the  morning,  as  did  our  old  minister?"  said 


PEEACHEES  AND  PEEACHING.  289 

The  merchant  answered.  Sociable.  The  nervous  lady. 

a  mercliant  to  his  newly -settled  pastor.  "Because 
that  was  not  inserted  in  my  call,  and  I  have  other 
duties  in  the  morning,"  was  the  sensible  reply.  The 
old  minister  wasted  his  time,  and  wore  himself  out  as 
a  preacher. 

"I  thought  you  were  never  coming  to  see  us 
again,"  said  a  pleasant  lady  to  her  minister,  as  he 
called  one  afternoon.  "  How  long  since  I  have  been 
here?"  he  asked.  ''Why,  not  for  a  month,"  she  re- 
plied. "  And  suppose,"  said  he,  "  I  were  to  visit  each 
of  my  three  hundred  families  once  a  month,  that  would 
make  thirty-six  hundred  visits  a  year,  and  would  you 
kill  me  by  asking  me  to  make  as  many  ?"  "  Oh  no," 
she  replied,  "I  would  only  have  you  visit  us  once  a 
month,  as  you  know  we  are  special  friends.  Once  a 
week  or  once  a  day  would  not  be  too  often  for  us^ 
And  there  are  a  great  many  such  frivolous  people 
connected  with  every  congregation,  who  are  never 
satisfied  with  their  minister  unless  he  is  what  they 
call  ''sociable,"  but  which  really  means  idle;  and  the 
thirst  of  such,  like  every  vitiated  appetite,  increases 
with  the  suj)ply. 

"I  thought  you  had  entirely  forgotten  me,"  said  a 
lady  afflicted  with  chronic  disease  to  her  pastor  as  he 
entered  her  room.  "How  long  since  I  have  been 
here?"  he  asked.  "I  have  been  counting  the  days, 
and  it  is  now  nearly  three  weeks,"  she  replied.  "  One 
of  the  elders,  and  only  one  of  the  deacons,  have  been 
here  in  the  mean  time,"  she  continued ;  "  I  like  them 
very  much,  but  they  are  not  my  minister."     She  was 

N 


290  PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING-. 

A  dedication.  Nervous  people.  Tables  turned. 

truly  pious,  and  thought  of  her  minister  very  much 
in.  the  way  that  Dr.  Lowth  thought  of  the  bishop  to 
whom  he  thus  dedicated  his  work  on  Daniel :  "  To  the 
Most  Keverend  Father  in  God,  William,  Lord  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  Primate  of  all  England,  and 
Metropolitan,  and  one  of  his  Majesty's  Honorable 
Privy  Council,"  and  to  whom  he  says,  ^'  This  might 
afford  me  a  proper  occasion  to  draw  a  parallel  be- 
tween his  (Daniel's)  and  your  grace's  accomplish- 
ments." But  that  was  no  reason  why  she  should  tax 
minister,  elders,  and  deacons  to  gratify  her  thirst  for 
visitation.  Indeed,  such  a  thirst  seems  to  be  a  part 
of  the  disease  of  some  nervous  people,  who  imagine 
that  they  should  be  the  great  objects  of  a  minister's 
solicitude,  as  they  are  of  their  own,  and  who  would 
squander  the  time  of  a  pastor  to  gratify  their  selfish 
longings. 

"  Why,  I  have  not  seen  you  for  a  long  while,"  said 
a  parishioner  to  his  pastor,  as  he  called  to  see  him, 
placing  a  drawling  emphasis  on  the  word  "long,"  so 
as  to  run  it  into  two  or  three  years.  "I  have  been 
thinking,"  said  the  pastor,  "how  long  it  is  since  you 
have  called  on  me.  I  have  been  here  ten  years ;  how 
often  have  you  been  to  see  me  ?"  "  Indeed,"  said  he, 
"  I  have  never  called,  but  I  will  soon."  "  When  you 
think  the  time  too  long  since  you  have  seen  me," 
said  the  pastor,  "just  call  at  my  house ;  I  will  always 
be  glad  to  see  you,  and  will  be  always  ready  to  show 
myself  without  charge." 

Incidents  like  these,  sometimes  very  amusing,  and 


PREACHEES  AND  PREACHING.       291 

Kept  busy.  Denounced.  Loungers. 

sometimes  not  a  little  annoying,  are  to  be  found  in 
tlie  experience  of  every  pastor.  There  are  many  wlio 
place  no  more  value  on  his  time  than  they  do  on 
that  of  a  chambermaid.  They  must  visit  daily  the 
sick ;  they  must  swell  the  pomp  of  funerals — three, 
four,  or  more — at  any  hour  of  the  day ;  they  must 
ride  miles  to  the  cemetery;  they  must  render  re- 
spectable lectures  and  evening  parties  by  their  pres- 
ence ;  they  must  attend  school  examinations,  and  be 
directors  in  all  kinds  of  associations  for  moral  and 
benevolent  purposes.  And  by  some  they  are  expect- 
ed to  be  members  of  clamorous  conventions  for  all 
kinds  of  reforms ;  and  if  they  decline,  they  are  de- 
nounced by  reverend  agents  and  secretaries,  who  take 
to  these  reforms  for  a  living,  as  other  people  do  to 
peddling  razor-strops  or  patent  medicines,  as  dumb 
dogs  that  can  not  bark.  Indeed,  if  pastors  should 
yield  to  all  the  demands  made  on  their  time  by  un- 
reasonable people,  they  would  have  no  time  for  the 
great  work  of  the  ministry.  Merchants,  and  bank- 
ers, and  lawyers,  and  mechanics  have  their  daily  hours 
for  business ;  none  think  of  interrupting  them  during 
those  hours;  if  any  do,  they  are  told  to  call  again. 
And  why  should  not  ministers  be  left  to  their  regular 
hours,  and  to  the  full  improvement  of  their  time? 
Why  should  parish  loungers  come  to  their  study  in 
the  morning  at  nine  o'clock,  and,  as  they  are  going 
away  at  twelve,  apologize  for  the  intrusion  by  saying, 
"I  hope  I  have  not  interrupted  you?" 
Parishes  and  people  should  place  a  right  estimate 


292  PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Important  duties.  The  merchant.  Time. 

upon  the  time  of  a  pastor.  He  lias  to  study  much ; 
to  give  himself  to  reading;  to  write  much;  to  visit  the 
sick  and  the  afflicted ;  to  call  upon  strangers ;  to  preach 
three  or  four  times  a  week ;  to  direct  the  inquiring ; 
to  counsel  in  cases  of  dif&culty ;  to  take  his  part  in 
the  management  of  local  and  national  institutions,  all 
which  require  a  kind  of  ubiquity  in  a  man,  who  can 
be  only  in  one  place  at  a  time.  A  man  so  occupied 
with  important  duties  should  not  be  asked  to  give  an 
hour  but  for  its  worth.  Ask  him  for  his  money,  or 
for  his  books,  or  for  his  sermons,  but  do  not  ask  him 
to  squander  his  precious  time.  "  I  am  sorry  to  have 
kept  you  waiting  these  fifteen  minutes,"  said  a  mer- 
chant to  a  minister  as  he  stepped  into  his  carriage,  in 
which  he  had  left  him ;  "  but  in  those  minutes  I  have 
transacted  business  to  the  amount  of  seventy-five 
thousand  dollars."  In  the  hour  filched  from  the  pas- 
tor, and  for  no  purpose,  he  might  have  saved  a  soul. 
It  requires  time  to  do  any  thing  well ;  and  if  a  peo- 
ple desire  a  pastor  to  be  a  workman  of  whom  they 
need  not  to  be  ashamed,  they  must  spare  his  time.  If 
he  does  not  improve  it  himself,  they  should  kindly 
request  him  to  do  so.  An  idle  minister  can  never  be 
other  than  a  poor  pastor  and  preacher.  Idleness  in 
the  ministry  should  be  treated  as  an  immorality.  An 
idle  mind  is  the  devil's  workshop,  irrespective  of  po- 
sitions, professions,  and  trades.  For  reasons  already 
given  in  these  pages,  it  is  emphatically  so  in  the  min- 
istry. But  when  a  congregation  has  a  pastor  disposed 
to  make  the  best  possible  use  of  his  time,  they  should 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.       293 

A  great  kindness.  Mornings.  Dr.  Green's  way. 

encourage  and  enable  him  so  to  do,  and  be  as  sparing 
of  it  as  he  himself  desires  to  be ;  and  when  he  is  in 
want  of  books  to  make  the  best  possible  use  of  it,  they 
should  be  promptly  and  generously  supplied.  "  Send 
for  what  books  3^ou  want,  and  have  them  charged  to 
me,  and  make  the  best  use  of  them,"  said  a  wealthy 
parishioner  to  a  young  minister  of  talents  and  indus- 
try on  his  settlement.  That  one  act  made  him  a  ben- 
efactor of  the  world,  as  it  enabled  that  young  minis- 
ter to  enter  on  a  course  of  study  whose  results  are 
known  and  read  of  all  men. 

Ordinarily,  the  mornings  of  every  day  should  be 
left  undisturbed  to  the  pastor.  Calls,  funerals,  all 
parochial  duties,  should  be  in  the  afternoon.  There 
should  be  a  common  law,  admitting  of  necessary  ex- 
ceptions, on  this  matter.  Some  pastors  lock  them- 
selves up  in  the  morning;  some  see  those  who  call 
with  pen  in  hand  or  behind  their  ear ;  some  hang  a 
card  on  their  door,  with  the  sentence  on  it,  ^^Be  short  f 
for  the  admonition  of  intruders ;  but  we  like  the  hon- 
est plan  of  Dr.  Green,  who  admitted  every  body  that 
called,  never  asked  them  to  sit  down,  asked  them 
what  they  wanted,  and,  the  moment  the  business  was 
ended,  gently  waved  his  hand  toward  the  door,  say- 
ing, "  I  am  just  now  occupied."  This  we  consider  an 
example  worthy  of  imitation.  If  a  people  will  not 
duly  regard  the  time  of  pastors,  they  should  take  its 
protection  into  their  own  hands.  This  may  not  satis- 
fy the  persons  that  like  their  minister  to  be  "socia- 
ble;" that  is,  to  spend  his  afternoons  in  visiting  and 


294       PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Benefits.  Kural  parishes.  Parish  gossip. 

tea-drinking ;  but  its  benefits  will  be  apparent  to  all 
in  liis  preparations  for  the  pulpit,  and  in  the  mascu- 
line energy  with,  which,  he  performs  his  duties.  There 
can  not  be  a  doubt  but  that  the  want  of  emphasis  in 
the  ministry  of  many  rural  parishes  is  owing  to  the 
way  in  which  the  people  fritter  away  the  time  of  their 
pastors  for  no  purpose,  or  drive  them  from  their  stud- 
ies by  their  penuriousness  to  supplement  an  inade- 
quate salary  by  some  worldly  employment. 

The  work  of  the  ministry  is  a  great  work,  and  dif- 
ficult in  its  performance,  and  diligence  in  its  prosecu- 
tion should  be  in  the  proportion  of  its  greatness  and 
di£S.culty.  If  parishes  know  what  is  for  their  own 
interest,  they  would  not  squander  the  time  of  their 
pastors.  They  would  prefer  good  sermons  to  social 
visits.  The  people  that  want  a  parish  gossip  should 
hire  one  for  the  purpose,  and  relieve  the  minister  from 
the  endless  task. 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  295 

The  object.  Church  in  Jerusalem.  Why  not  so  now. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

THE  ELEMENTS  OF  A  PROSPEROUS  CHURCH. 

The  object  of  a  clmrch  organization  in  our  world 
is  twofold :  to  maintain  tlie  truth  and  the  ordinances 
of  the  Gospel,  and  to  extend  the  knowledge  of  them 
among  all  people ;  and  a  Church  is  prosperous  in  the 
degree  to  which  these  ends  are  accomplished. 

It  is  said  of  the  Church  in  Jerusalem,  immediately 
subsequent  to  its  Pentecostal  baptism,  ''The  Lord 
added  to  the  Church  daily  such  as  should  be  saved." 
And  what  was  the  secret  of  its  daily  increase  ?  Why 
are  not  churches  now  thus  blessed?  These  are  im- 
portant inquiries,  and  upon  which  no  considerate 
mind  can  bestow  even  a  slight  consideration  without 
exclaiming,  "Oh,  that  the  Church  had  always  re- 
mained on  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  proph- 
ets !  Oh,  that  the  influence  of  its  first  baptism  had 
continued  from  age  to  age !"  Then  there  would  have 
been  no  corruptions  of  doctrine,  no  conflicts  of  error- 
ists,  no  need  of  Reformations,  no  jealousies  of  sects, 
no  weakening  of  its  energies  by  internal  discords! 
Then  each  successive  age  would  only  have  increased 
the  splendor  of  its  light,  and  the  power  of  its  influ- 
ence, and  the  extent  of  its  dominion ;  and  long  ago 
all  the  kindreds  and  people  of  the  earth  would  have 


296       PREACHEKS  AND  PREACHING. 

The  truth.  Its  importance.  Historic  testunony. 

been  pervaded  by  its  benign  influence!  And  tlie 
most  cursory  analysis  of  its  state  clearly  reveal  what 
are  the  true  elements  of  a  prosperous  Church.  These 
are: 

1.  The  truth.  The  reception  of  the  Savior  as  the 
Messiah,  and  of  the  great  doctrines  which  he  taught, 
formed  the  bond  that  bound  the  early  disciples  to- 
gether. Whether  Jews  or  Gentiles,  bond  or  free, 
male  or  female,  refined  Greeks  or  boorish  Scythians, 
when  they  loved  Christ  they  loved  one  another. 
They  were  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus.  And  when  drawn 
together  by  the  all-powerful  magnet  of  faith  in  Christ, 
it  was  to  confirm  one  another  in  the  faith — to  main- 
tain it  and  preserve  it  from  corruption — to  teach  it  to 
their  children,  and  to  propagate  it  throughout  the 
world.  Here  we  have  the  great  element  of  a  pros- 
perous Church ;  and,  instead  of  being  a  subordinate 
one,  it  is  the  basis  of  all  others — that  in  which  all 
others  inhere. 

That  the  truth  is  an  element  essential  to  the  pros- 
perity and  true  glory  of  the  Church,  all  history  testi- 
fies. As  the  truth  died  out  from  the  ancient  Church, 
fancy,  and  credulity,  and  corruption  had  a  freer  play, 
the  tokens  of  departing  glory  and  of  a  coming  night 
fearfully  multiplied.  Shade  thickened  after  shade. 
Each  succeeding  age  came  wrapped  in  a  deeper 
gloom,  until  the  flood  of  glory  which  the  Gospel 
poured  upon  the  world  was  lost  in  the  darkness  of 
the  night  of  the  Dark  Ages,  which  seemed  to  roll  on 
as  if  it  were  never  to  end.    The  truth  is  to  the  Church 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  297 

Church  life.  A  true  ministry. 

wliat  the  sun  is  to  tlie  earth,  the  source  of  its  light, 
its  heat,  its  fertility,  and  fruitfulness.  And,  as  we 
see  in  the  cases  of  those  bodies  which  have  departed 
from  the  foundation  which  Grod  has  laid  in  Zion,  the 
Church,  when  it  forsakes  the  simple  truth  for  fables, 
is  as  an  altar  without  a  sacrifice — as  the  body  without 
the  spirit  that  animates  it ;  and  hence  the  duty  of  the 
Church  to  contend  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the 
saints.  The  truth  is  its  life.  It  was  the  sword  of  the 
Spirit  at  Pentecost,  and  it  must  ever  be  so. 

2.  Another  element  of  a  prosperous  Church  is  a 
true  ministry.  There  is  a  divinely  authorized  minis- 
try for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints,  for  the  edifying 
of  the  body  of  Christ.  This  ministry  must  be  duly 
prepared  and  authenticated.  All  that  is  true  in  the 
dogma  of  apostolical  succession  belongs  equally  to 
all  branches  of  the  evangelical  Protestant  Church. 
Yet  we  mean  more  by  a  true  ministry  than  one  qual- 
ified with  a  current  ecclesiastical  warrant.  Many 
such  have  been  and  now  are  wolves  in  sheep's  cloth- 
ing— the  crucifiers  of  Christ  and  the  liberators  of 
Barabbas.  It  must  possess,  in  addition,  a  quenchless 
desire  for  the  salvation  of  men.  How  strong  on  this 
point  the  declaration  of  the  apostle,  ."For  I  could 
wish  that  myself  were  accursed  from  Christ  for  my 
brethren,  my  kinsmen,  according  to  the  flesh."  Could 
he  more  strongly  express  the  intensity  of  his  desire 
to  save  souls  ?  And,  again,  he  says  to  the  Corinthi- 
ans, "  For  though  I  be  free  from  all  men,  yet  have  I 
made  myself  a  servant  unto  all,  that  I  might  gain  the 
^■2 


298  PEEACHEES  AND  PEEACHING. 

Paul's  zeal.  Puritans.  Dr.  Backus. 

more.  ...  I  am  made  all  things  to  all  men,  that  I 
might  by  all  means  save  some."  This  is  his  own 
representation  of  the  passion  burning  within  him  for 
the  salvation  of  men,  and  which  difficulties  seemed 
only  to  inflame ;  and  hence,  in  a  few  years,  he  carried 
the  Gospel  as  far  as  the  Eoman-eagles  had  sped  their 
flight.  From  the  hour  the  scales  fell  from  his  eyes 
he  lived  but  for  one  object — to  save  men  by  the 
preaching  of  the  truth.  Whether  reasoning  with  the 
Jews,  or  confounding  the  Grecian  philosophers,  or  de- 
fending himself  before  Festus,  or  writing  in  chains  to 
the  Churches  he  had  collected,  his  only  aim  was  to 
save  men  through  the  truth.  And  such  men  were 
the  Eeformers,  and  the  Scotch  and  English  Puritans ; 
such  were  Heywood,  and  Brainard,  and  Baxter,  and 
Wesley,  and  Whitefield,  and  Chalmers,  and  M'Cheyne, 
and  Pay  son,  and  Nettleton,  and  many  others  among 
the  dead  and  the  living,  whose  names  are  enrolled 
among  those  who  have  turned  many  to  righteousness. 
And  such  is  the  ministry  we  need — learned — trained 
to  be  master  workmen  if  it  can  be  done — but,  above 
all,  truly  pious  and  truly  consecrated  to  the  work  of 
the  ministry.  With  such  a  ministry,  where  does  any 
Church  languish  ?  Without  such  a  ministry,  where 
does  any  Church  flourish  ?  When  told  he  could  not 
live  an  hour.  Dr.  Backus  asked  that  he  might  be 
placed  on  his  knees,  so  as  to  offer  up  another  prayer 
for  the  Church  of  God  before  he  died.  His  request 
was  granted,  and  he  died  on  his  knees  praying  for  the 
prosperity  of  Jerusalem.    When  a  spirit  like  this  per- 


PEEACHEES  AND  PEEACHINa.       299 

Holiness  of  Christians.  Teachings  of  Scripture. 

vades  its  entire  ministry,  then  will  the  light  of  the 
Church  fall  upon  the  world  with  the  brilliancy  of  the 
united  light  of  seven  suns.  And  education  societies, 
colleges,  and  seminaries  are  comparatively  useless 
only  as  they  raise  up  such  a  ministry.  Such  was  the 
ministry  of  Pentecost. 

8.  Another  element  of  a  prosperous  Church  is  the 
holiness  of  its  members.  "Christ  loved  the  Church, 
and  gave  himself  for  it,  that  it  might  be  holy  and 
without  blemish."  The  prayer  of  Paul  for  the  Thes- 
salonians  was  that  God  might  sanctify  them  wholly. 
And  he  entreats  the  Eomans  to  present  themselves 
to  God  a  living  sacrifice,  holy  and  acceptable.  And 
Peter  entreats  all  Christians  to  be  holy  in  all  manner 
of  conversation.  The  holiness,  the  graces  of  its  mem- 
bers form  the  true  weapons  with  which  the  Church 
may  successfully  contend  with  the  army  of  the  aliens. 

And  all  scriptural  representations  as  to  Christian 
character  agree  with  this  statement.  Christians  are 
witnesses  for  Christ,  bearing  testimony  by  word  and 
example  to  his  divine  character,  equity,  sufficiency, 
and  to  the  power  of  his  grace.  They  are  epistles  of 
Christ,  not  forged,  falsified,  interlined,  blotted ;  but 
genuine,  plain,  clear,  that  can  be  read  of  all  men. 
They  are  the  lights  of  the  world,  not  glimmering, 
feeble,  fitful,  like  a  candle  dying  in  a  socket;  but 
bright,  and  ever  brightening,  like  the  sun  ascending 
from  the  twilight  of  morn  to  the  zenith.  They  are 
the  salt  of  the  earth,  not  useless  and  worthless,  hav- 
ing lost  its  savor,  and  cast  out  to  be  trodden  under 


800  PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING. 

Profession  of  religion.  Dober  and  Leopold. 

foot  of  man ;  but  salutary,  preservative,  and  correct- 
ive. The  sanctity  and  consecration  of  its  members 
form  the  true  glory  of  the  Church,  and  are  a  most 
important  element  in  securing  its  prosperity. 

It  is  a  cause  of  lamentation  in  our  day  that,  to  such 
an  extent,  a  profession  of  religion  is  only  a  profession 
of  belief  in  the  theory  of  the  Gospel.  With  many, 
that  profession  seems  as  unconnected  with  obligation 
to  glorify  God  and  do  good  to  men  as  is  the  reception 
of  any  one  of  the  conflicting  systems  of  philosophy. 
Here  is  the  point  where  the  Protestant  Church  is 
weakest,  and  where  it  stands  most  in  need  of  a  new 
Eeformation.  It  is  related  that  in  1780  a  negro  from 
St.  Thomas  visited  the  Moravian  Church  at  Herrn- 
huth,  and  stated  that  he  had  a  sister  on  that  island 
greatly  desirous  of  religious  instruction,  but  that  none 
could  instruct  her  save  a  slave.  Two  of  the  breth- 
ren, Dober  and  Leopold,  instantly  offered  to  go  to  that 
island  and  to  sell  themselves  as  slaves,  in  order  to 
point  that  child  of  Africa  to  the  Savior.  When  the 
spirit  of  Dober  and  Leopold  pervades  its  entire  mem- 
bership, then  will  the  Church  be  terrible  to  its  ene- 
mies as  an  army  with  banners,  and  soon  will  the 
world  be  subdued  to  the  sceptre  of  the  Savior ;  and 
such  was  the  spirit  of  the  members  of  the  Church  at 
Pentecost. 

4.  Another  element  of  a  prosperous  Church  is  the 
united  and  zealous  efforts  of  its  memhers  to  accomplish  its 
covenanted  luorlc.  This  world  is  given  to  the  Savior. 
It  is  to  be  reclaimed  to  its  true  allegiance  by  the  Gos- 


PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING.  301 

Zealous  effort.  New  channels.  Superstitious  ivarning. 

pel ;  nor  is  the  Churcli  to  relax  its  efforts  to  give  the 
Gospel  to  every  creature  "until  the  darkness  which 
covers  the  earth  shall  pass  away,  like  the  mists  that 
roll  up  the  mountain  before  the  rising  glories  of  a 
summer's  morning.  What  a  glorious  work  is  given 
to  the  Church ! 

God  is  opening  in  all  the  earth  new  channels  for 
the  going  forth  of  the  waters  of  life,  and  amid  all  peo- 
ple he  is  clearing  a  wide  space  on  which  to  lay  the 
foundations  of  his  Church.  The  gorgeous  supersti- 
tions of  India  are  giving  way  before  the  religion  and 
civilization  of  Christian  states.  A  change  is  rapidly 
passing  over  the  •  Mohammedan  world.  Its  fit  em- 
blem is  that  segment  of  the  moon  often  seen  in  the 
western  sky  in  the  morning,  and  whose  light  is  going 
out  amid  the  brightening  glories  of  the  sun.  Popery, 
too,  is  fast  wearing  out ;  and  the  providence  of  God, 
with  trumpet  tongue,  is  calling  upon  the  Church  to 
rise  and  possess  the  land.  With  such  a  work  before 
it,  and  with  such  opportunities  of  doing  it,  why  should 
one  member  of  the  Church  of  God  withhold  his  aid  ? 
Why  should  Judah  vex  Ephraim,  or  Ephraim  Ju- 
dah  ?  Why  should  the  people  of  God  permit  them- 
selves to  be  drawn  away  by  controversies  on  the 
mint,  anise,  and  cummin,  from  the  weightier  matters 
of  the  law  ?  In  a  day  like  ours,  every  member  of  the 
Church  should  be  zealous  and  active  in  seeking  to  do 
good  to  others ;  they  should  be  laboring  together  for 
the  spread  of  the  Gospel.  Thus  did  the  members  of 
the  Church  at  Pentecost,  and  the  Lord  daily  added  to 


802  PREACHEBS  AND  PREACHING. 

Presence  of  the  Spirit.  The  upper  room.  The  baptism. 

their  number.  A  Church,  whose  members  are  united 
in  love  and  fervent  in  spirit  is  at  once  powerful  and 
attractive.  It  is  arrayed  in  the  beautj  of  holiness. 
Such  was  the  Church  of  Pentecost. 

5.  Another  element  of  a  prosperous  Church  is  the 
presence  of  the  Spirit.  The  last  command  of  the  Sav- 
ior to  his  disciples  was,  "  Tarry  ye  in  the  city  of  Je- 
rusalem until  ye  be  endued  with  power  from  on 
high."  In  obedience  to  this  command,  they  returned 
to  that  famed  upper  room,  and  there  for  ten  days  they 
waited  and  prayed,  and  prayed  and  waited  for  the 
promised  power ;  and  when  the  day  of  Pentecost  was 
fully  come,  they  were  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
began  to  sj)eak  with  other  tongues,  as  the  Spirit  gave 
them  utterance.  It  is  admitted  that  there  were  some 
things  miraculous  in  this  wonderful  event,  and  not 
now  to  be  expected ;  but  it  is  claimed  that  there  were 
other  things  designed  to  be  permanent,  and  which 
now,  as  then,  form  the  true  power  of  the  Church; 
and  those  things  are  all  included  in  the  phrase,  "And 
they  were  all  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost ;"  and  in 
this,  which  is  familiarly  called  "  the-  baptism  of  the 
Spirit,"  consists  the  real  power  of  the  Church,  with- 
out which  none  of  its  great  objects  can  be  attained. 
The  disciples  had  the  truth ;  they  were  authorized  to 
preach ;  the  people  were  perishing  for  lack  of  vision. 
Why  delay  a  day  ?  They  waited  the  promise  of  the 
Father;  and,  when  endued  with  the  power  from  on 
high,  they  went  into  Jerusalem  and  into  all  the  earth, 
and,  wherever  they  went,  they  turned  the  world  up- 


PEEACHERS  AND  PREACHING-.       803 

The  power  of  the  Church.  Its  beauty. 

side  down ;  and  here  alone  lies  tlie  true  power  of  the 
Church.  Splendid  edifices,  imposing  ceremonies, 
cathedral  services,  eloquent  ministrations,  matins  and 
vespers,  form  no  compensation  for  this  power  from 
on  high ;  nor  do  organizations  for  the  reformation  of 
all  kinds  of  sinners.  Let  the  ministry  of  the  Church, 
its  office-bearers,  and  members,  be  only  clothed  with 
this  power  from  on  high,  and  then  it  will  appear  to 
be  what  it  really  is,  "  an  angel  of  light,  lifting  her 
cherubic  form  and  smiling  countenance  among  the 
children  of  men ;  shedding  a  healing  influence  on  the 
wounds  of  society;  hushing  the  notes  of  discord; 
driving  before  her  the  spirit  of  mischief;  bringing 
the  graces  in  her  train,  and  converting  earth  into  a 
resemblance  of  heaven."  Then,  like  the  Pharos  of 
the  Egyptians,  whose  towering  form  by  day,  and 
whose  far-shining  light  by  night  was  the  guide  of  the 
tempest-tossed  mariner,  it  will  be  the  guide  of  all  the 
wandering  from  God  to  a  safe  anchorage  under  the 
shelter  of  the  Rock  of  Ages. 


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